Effy Gilbert
by We're All M-M-Mad Here
Summary: Effy is Elena's identical twin, both dopplegangers of Rosista and Katerina Patrova, as well as Tatia and Runa. Effy has been having a hard time since their parents deaths, so overcome with sadness and guilt that she hasn't spoken a word. see how she deals with the supernatural. Eventual Kol/OC
1. Memories

_Mystic Falls, the Salvatore Estate, 1864_

Stefan Salvatore waited patiently at the front of the manor, his hands clasped respectively behind his back as he waited for their guests to arrive.

He had been ordered by his father, Giuseppe Salvatore, to dress in his finest clothes. That was why tan waist coat was buttoned over his shirt, his pants were pressed and his black shoes shined.

The Pierce twins were staying with the Salvatore's due to a great loss to the family; their parents dying in a house fire. Stefan longed for his brother and best friend, Damon, to be home from the war, not only because he was worried his brother would come home harmed, or worse, in a casket, but because he knew Damon would love to have the company of two supposedly beautiful ladies.

Stefan's back straightened and a polite smile appeared on his lips as a horse drawn carriage pulled up in front of him.

He watched curiously as the carriage drive hopped down from the front of the carriage and around to the side to open the doors.

The first person out was a woman, a handmaiden based on the white apron tied at her waist atop her blue skirts. She had olive skin, almond shaped brown eyes that were verging on becoming black and a mass of black curls under a small white maiden's bonnet.

Stefan watched as the handmaiden reached out her hand at the same time as the driver, each of them helping down a woman.

Stefan's breath hitched, but his respectful stance did waver. The rumours were true about them being beautiful, and they were identical, right down to every curl.

The first twin had her brunette curls piled on her face beneath a frilly hat, a few falling onto her tanned cheeks. Her tight bodice was a pale pink that melted into her deep pink skirts.

The second twin had her curls falling loose about her shoulders and her dress was a midnight blue, her bodice made of crushed velvet.

"You must be the Pierce twins" Stefan said, stepping forward with a bow.

The twins shared a glance with their brown eyes before both looking at Stefan with identical smiles and giving a small curtsy, the twin in pink saying "Call me Katherine" while the other said "Call me Rosa"

_Mystic Falls, the Salvatore estate, 1864_

Rosa's giggles filled the room as she lay on the bed next to Damon, his arms wrapped around her waist as he nibbled her neck. They were both only dressed in their undergarments; Rosa's a black bodice with white bloomers.

"Damon, I have to go, I am having tea with my sister and Pearl" Rosa giggled, as Damon brushed her chocolate curls back and kissed her jaw.

"No, stay" Damon pouted.

"Damon" Rosa said warningly, but Damon didn't listen, just continuing to kiss her tanned skin and holding her tighter, his black hair tickling her skin.

She quickly used her heightened speed and strength to flip him over and straddling him, allowing the black veins to appear under her eyes and barring her fangs; Damon's blue eyes widened in shock.

She braced herself, expecting to have to stop him struggling and compel him.

Her brows furrowed in confusion and surprise when Damon looked at her intrigued eyes and reached a hand up to stroke her cheek, his thumbs brushing the veins under her eyes.

"You're so beautiful" Damon whispered.

She stared at him for a second before leaning into his hand and giving him a soft smile, the veins slowly disappearing and veins retracting.

That was the moment Rosa Pierce fell in love with Damon Salvatore.


	2. Prologue

Prologue

_6 months ago_

Music was blaring loudly in the woods in Mystic Falls. Sweaty teenage bodies writhed against each other as they danced, a few people stumbling about drunkenly and others just hanging out with friends around the fires, having to shout into each other's ears to carry out a conversation. It was definitely one of the more chaotic parties, but what can you do? Everyone was just celebrating that after summer they would officially be seniors.

A sixteen year old girl emerged from the bushes, smoothing down the ruffles of her blood red dress and fixing her chocolate brown curls, a satisfied smirk on her face. She bent down and slipped on her tan heals, which matched the trim of her dress.

She confidently walked across the party, nearing the stoners' circle, which was slightly shrouded from the smoke. As she passed she grabbed a beer out of a pretty red heads hand. The red head didn't seem to notice what had happened at first, her blue eyes hazy from the joint, but when she did she mock glared at the other girl.

"Effy, that's mine" The red head whined, pouting.

"Correction, was yours" the girl, Effy, smirked "Besides, you have a joint Vicky, it's only fair"

Vicky continued to mock glare but couldn't keep it up for long and just laughed and took a puff from the joint resting in her fingers.

Effy took a sip of her newly acquired beer and saw a teen boy leave the bushes she had just vacated. He had cropped black hair, tanned skin, brown eyes and his muscles were pronounced from years of football training, he too wore a smirk on his face, but his was cockier. Effy snickered as she saw that he had a few leaves in his hair.

She continued on her way through the party until she stopped in front of a perky blonde, currently nursing a beer, her crystal blue eyes slightly glazed from the alcohol.

"Hey Caroline, miss me?" Effy asked, but didn't wait for a response before she said "of course you did"

The blonde, Caroline, was about to answer, probably to comment on her arrogance, before she took in her friends expression, the smirk still graced her lips that now lacked the red lipstick that was there originally.

"I know that expression" Caroline said excitedly.

"What expression?" Effy asked, her faux innocent voice contrasting against the now prominent smirk on her lips and mischievous look in her brown eyes.

Caroline rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.

"The expression you're currently wearing. The 'I just got laid' expression. I am your best friend, you have to share the smut" Caroline pouted "Who was it?"

Effy didn't answer, instead cocking her head in the direction of the boy, who was now flirting with Vicky at the stoner's circle but still had the leaves in his hair, much to Effy's amusement.

"Tyler Lockwood?" Caroline gasped. "He's a jackass" Caroline said in disbelief.

"Definitely, but you can't deny he's hot" Effy smirked. "Besides he's not that bad"

Caroline didn't disagree with her friend, as she was used to the fact that while her friend seemed completely uncaring she actually saw the good in everyone, probably the reason she didn't judge her as an airhead cheerleader like everyone else did.

"Hey Elizabeth" a boys voice said.

Effy glared at the boy who had just approached, not liking the use of her full name. "I'm sorry, there is no one called Elizabeth here"

"Figured you'd say that, but I couldn't resist pushing your buttons" the boy winked and then retreated to the keg a few feet away"

Caroline stared after the boy in confusion as Effy glared at his back.

"How do you know Chris Matthews?" Caroline asked, she only knew his name as she was a cheerleader so made it a point to know all the team members names.

"I had sex with him a few weeks ago and I guess he's gotten cocky" Effy shrugged casually.

"Oh yeah, honestly Eff, you have so much smut I can't even keep track" Caroline laughed.

Despite Caroline's tinkering laugh, Effy could see the twinge of jealousy in her blue eyes. She knew it was just Caroline's loneliness as she hasn't had a boyfriend in a while, as she was mainly jealous of Effy's twin sister, Elena, as she was another pretty, popular cheerleader, but she had a brilliant track record with dating, something that made Caroline insecure, but she hid it well.

Effy was about to make a snarky comment, but was cut off by the buzzing of her phone on her thigh. She pulled her phone out of the strap on her leg to see that she had gotten a text from Elena.

'**Had a fight with Matt and called mom and dad'**

Effy groaned.

"What?" Caroline asked.

"Sorry Care, I'm going to have to ditch you, Elena's called mom and dad" Effy told her friend "why don't you go hook up with some unsuspecting victim…I mean lucky guy" Effy winked before making her way through the forest towards where she knew the road was.

It took her a full five minutes to get to the road and when she did her twin was standing, looking at the road confusedly. Elena looked exactly like her except the hair as Elena's was pin straight.

"What are you doing?" Effy asked, slightly amused at her twins confused expression.

"I don't remember" Elena murmured, but Effy could tell she was talking to herself more than her.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, Ellie" Effy said mockingly.

"Ugh, why do you call me that?" Elena groaned, glaring at her twin.

"Does it bother you?" Effy asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes" Elena stated, still glaring.

"Then that's why" Effy smirked.


	3. Pilot

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters other than Effy Gilbert.**

**Author's note: Bold=Flashback….**_italic_** =a different perspective.**

Chapter one

_Pilot_

It was the banging on my bedroom door that made the first noise of the day, just like it had been for the past six months. No longer my dad, Grayson, barging in and pulling open my curtains, laughing at my annoyed expression. I heard knocking again, this time on the door next to mine, Jeremy's room. The knocking was my Aunt Jenna's way of telling us to get up when she was in a rush, which was normally all the time.

I grudgingly pulled myself out of bed before going stumbling into mine and Elena's shared bathroom to brush my teeth. I got dressed quickly, pulling on a tank top, a pair of black jeans and sneakers and one of Jeremy's black hoodies.

I looked towards all the clothes in the wardrobe, the dresses, jeans and tops, not to mention all the heels stacked at the bottom. I hadn't worn any of it for six months, sticking to hoodies, jeans and sneakers.

I passed Elena's bedroom on the way to the stairs. She was sitting by the window, writing in her diary, mumbling slightly to herself as she did. She always wrote in her diary, I never quite understood why, as when we were younger it just meant I could read all her secrets, but our mum, Miranda, encouraged her to do it and I guess after our parents deaths Elena only became even more determined to write.

I grabbed three mugs when I got to the kitchen, pouring coffee into each, knowing Elena and Jeremy would want some when they came down. I leaned on the counter and took a sip from my mug, watching as aunt Jenna putt books and papers in her bag before glancing around the room, as though it would tell her what she needed.

Elena entered then and immediately grabbed one of the mugs of coffee giving me a smile that I knew was fake. I didn't pay any attention to it however as we all had our way of dealing with loss. Elena sat in the cemetery, writing in her journal and giving people fake smiled, Jeremy turned to drugs, while I shut myself off completely, not speaking a word, nothing like my former self.

Aunt Jenna had become even more frazzled and exclaimed "toast, I can my toast"

"It's all about the coffee Aunt Jenna" Elena said, taking a sip from her mug.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked as he entered the room, wearing the black attire that mirrored my own, even the black nail varnish, although his was chipped.

I handed him his mug and he took it gratefully, I frowned at the bags under his bloodshot eyes and could tell he must have done drugs last night, but I didn't bring Elena's attention to it, knowing Jeremy got annoyed when she nagged. However I sometimes felt like Elena had the hardest job as she had to look after Jeremy and I, I used to be the strong one out of us, but what happened that night our parents car went over Wickerey Bridge broke me.

"It's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared" Jenna said, she pulled out a couple of dollars "lunch money?"

"I'm fine" Elena said.

Aunt Jenna looked towards me; I just shook my head and took another sip of coffee. Jeremy snatched the money out of Jenna's hands and grabbed his bag.

"Anything else…? A number two pencil…?" Aunt Jenna asked, looking through her bag for the tenth time in as many minutes. "What am I missing?"

I tapped Jenna on the arm and pointed towards the calendar on the fridge, showing that she had a big presentation.

"Thanks Effy, I'm meeting with my thesis adviser at" she glanced at her watch" now. Crap." She pulled her strawberry blonde hair out of it pony tail and slung her bag over her shoulder.

_"Then go we'll be fine, Right Eff?" Elena said to me. _

_I nodded, smiling comfortingly at Aunt Jenna, who looked at us with grateful green eyes just before she rushed out of the house. _

_Elena turned to look at Jeremy, worry and sadness in the eyes that mirrored my own._

_"You okay?" Elena asked him and even I could hear the implication of 'let's sit down and talk about our feelings'_

_"Don't start" Jeremy said in a tired voice before leaving._

_Elena turned back to face me and sighed. I wrapped my arms around her in a comforting hug, knowing how hard it must be for her, she always did consider herself the one who had to look after everyone else. I felt rather guilty at that as I supposed it should have been me since I was the eldest, a fact I used to enjoy rubbing in Elena's face, but I just couldn't handle it, I wasn't quite me anymore, just a hollow shell of who I once was. _

_I my head snapped to the door as I heard three honks just outside._

_"Looks like Caroline's here" Elena said "see you at school"_

_I gave her a small smile, before pulling my backpack on my shoulder and running out to Caroline's silver car. _

Caroline gave me a huge smile before she looked at my clothes distastefully as she started to drive. She opened her mouth to say something, probably about the outfit, before she closed it again, clearly thinking better about it. Caroline may put her foot in her mouth around people, but she had never been that with me, after all we were best friends, but I could tell it was difficult for Caroline to adjust to associating with the mute me.

"So, how are you doing?" Caroline asked after a few minutes silence.

I raised a brow in disbelief.

"Right, stupid question" Caroline sighed, and we drifted into silence again.

I felt rather saddened with what my friendship with Caroline has become. This wasn't how it was meant to be, this wasn't us. She was supposed to be ranting about her mom while I made fun of her for it, while she told me about her new love interest and I told her who I had sex with that time, before we went to school and Caroline gave me all the latest gossip.

I decided right then I would try harder. I may not ready to totally go back to how I was, not ready to dress how I did or talk, but I would definitely try harder.

I nudged Caroline's shoulder and gave her a secret smile, just like we always did when we knew something others didn't; it was like our special code. Caroline positively beamed back clearly happy at the progress.

"So I made cheerleading captain" Caroline grinned as we pulled into the parking lot of the school, and I smiled back, happy that she was talking to me just like she used to. "I'm going to have to organise the schedule this morning and pin it up, so we'll just go to Bonnie and Elena and you can stay with them"

I nodded and entered the school, Caroline practically flouncing down the hall and I couldn't help but smile, she was just so perky.

We noticed Elena and Bonnie standing by the lockers and Caroline bounded over and pulled Elena into a hug, they hadn't seen each other for a while so I supposed Caroline wanting to check she was okay, in her own perky way.

"Elena, oh my god._It's so great to see you" she said pulling back and turning to me and Bonnie "How is she, is she good?"_

_I raised my eyebrows and shared a glance with Bonnie her dark brown eyes mirroring the message that was clearly in mine 'why's she asking us?'_

_"Caroline, I'm right here" Elena said, clearly thinking the same thing as me and Bonnie "and I'm fine thank you" She continued giving Caroline her 'believable' smile. _

_Caroline smiled._

_"Oh you poor thing" she said sympathetically, pulling Elena into another hug. _

_"Okay Caroline" Elena choked out, because of the tight hold, and I smirked in amusement as she patted her back awkwardly. _

_"See you guys later?" she asked not waiting for an answer before bouncing off down the corridor._

_I looked at Elena with a mocking glance._

_"No comment" Elena said shaking her head._

_Bonnie and I shared a glance and laughed in reply before heading down the corridor. _

_ "Hold up" Bonnie said, grabbing mine and Elena's arms to stop us as she looked into the school office. "Who's that?"_

_There was a guy in the office, talking to the receptionist, his back to the door so we couldn't see his face. His hair was a golden colour and he was wearing a leather jacket and jeans that hung loosely._

_"All I see is back" Elena stated and I rolled my eyes, tilting my head and looking at his ass. Really cute._

_"It's a hot back" Bonnie replied and I nodded in agreement. _

_"I'm sensing Seattle and he plays the guitar" Bonnie said to us, not taking her eyes off the mystery guy. _

_"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground huh?" Elena asked Bonnie laughing, my brows furrowed. Psychic thing? _

_"Pretty much" Bonnie replied in a serious voice causing Elena to laugh._

_Elena's jaw suddenly tightened as she looked down the hallway. "I'll be right back" she stated before leaving. _

_I turned to Bonnie and gave her a questioning look._

_She looked confused for a moment before asking "The psychic thing?" I nodded and she continued "Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that." _

_I nodded in understanding knowing Bonnie's grandmother's tendency to tell Bonnie she was a witch. Bonnie returned her attention to the mystery guy and I did the same, smirking when Bonnie whispered "please be hot"_

_The guy in the office turned and I smiled in improvement, he was definitely hot. He had strong features and tanned skin, not to mention really nice coloured green eyes. _

_Bonnie and I continued to watch as he walked out of the office, our only movement to turn so we could continue to watch. _

_I watched as the guy bumped into Elena amused as they began to do the hallway dance, Elena reddening with the awkward encounter. _

_As soon as she passed the guy I noticed how she glance back, she had clearly set her sights on him and I knew that meat he would fall for her. It always did when it came with Elena. _

_I caught up with my twin and raised a suggestive eyebrow._

_"Shut up" she snapped blushing and pushing me, I couldn't help but laugh. _

_We headed down the corridor and into the History classroom. I took my seat next to Elena and in front of Bonnie. _

_"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in eighteen sixty-one, it created a tremendous amount of within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional Deep South. Then Virginia divided in eighteen sixty three with the northwest region joining the union" I heard Mr Tanner drone, he was honestly the most annoying man ever and even though I didn't talk back to him, he still hated me for some reason. _

_My phone vibrated and I pulled it out of my pocket to see a text from Bonnie: HAWT-E STARING ELENA._

_I glanced to my twin on my right and saw he blush as she looked at her phone, clearly having gotten the same message. She glanced at the new guy before turning away and smiling when she saw for herself that he was staring._

_I smiled; I think Elena's school year has started on a good note._

I sat in the grill next to Vicky as she told me about how her relationship with Tyler was going. They had been 'dating' for a couple of weeks now, but as far as I knew it was just sex. I could tell by how Vicky spoke that she wanted it to be more, but I knew Tyler and I knew he didn't want that type of relationship, well at least not with her.

"Hey Effy" Jeremy said, coming up being me and Vicky, a hopeful look came to his eyes as he turned to the red head "hey Vick"

"Working" Vicky snapped before grabbing her notepad that she wrote orders on and going over to the table where Tyler and Matt sat.

"I don't get why she like that jerk more than me" Jeremy sighed and sat down next to me.

I gave him a sympathetic look, making sure it was one that wasn't pity as I knew that was the last thing Jeremy needed after all the pity looks we got from people after our parents death, and stoked the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck like I always did when he was little.

I felt sorry for Jeremy as I knew he really liked Vicky, it didn't help that the wall between my room and his was thin, so I knew that they had hooked up a few times and that Vicky claimed it was a drug haze. I knew that she like Jeremy, at least a little and I just couldn't understand why Vicky wouldn't want to be with him, especially as Jeremy told me how Tyler treated her like crap, and his story sounded more believable than the praise that left Vicky's mouth.

"Hey, what's your deal? I mean, summer you act one way, and then school starts and you can't be bother" Jeremy say to Vicky when she came back to refill a glass.

"Look, Jeremy, I really appreciate all the pharmaceuticals, but you can't keep following me around like a lost puppy" Vicky snapped, sending me an apologetic look.

I gave Vicky a small smile. I may not like how she's treating my little brother, but she's still my friend and I knew she depended on me, I was one of the few people who didn't judge and nag her when she started drugs and I know she appreciates it.

I got up to leave them to talk it, luckily Caroline and Bonnie just entered, so I went to sit with them.

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with his uncle in the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favourite colour is blue" Caroline was saying when I sat down.

I frowned when I realised she was talking about eh new guy. I hoped she didn't like him that much because I knew Elena like him too, and the last thing I wanted was Caroline thinking she had to compete with Elena again.

"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie asked in surprise.

I looked at her in disbelief. Was she seriously shocked? This was Caroline we were talking about, she's the eyes and ears of the town, if there was gossip; you could bet that Caroline Forbes knew it.

Matt came over to our table and I sighed when I saw the expression on his face and I just knew he was going to ask about Elena.

"How's Elena doing?" Matt asked and I didn't mind that he didn't ask about me, I guessed it was because since I didn't talk it was abundantly clear that I was not okay, but with Elena it's a little less obvious.

"Her mum and dad died" Bonnie said exasperated and sent me an apologetic look before turning back to Matt "How do you think? She's putting on a good face, but it's only been six months"

"Has she said anything about me?"

"Oh, no. so not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her" Bonnie said shaking her head.

"I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me" Matt said sadly.

"Give it more time Matt" Bonnie said and I nodded in agreement.

Matt suddenly looks even sadder than before and I follow his gaze to see that Elena had entered the grill, but she wasn't alone. She had bought Stefan.

"More time huh?" Matt scoffed and walked over to Elena and Stefan.

Bonnie and I shared a glance.

"You don't think he'll cause a scene do you?" Bonnie asked.

I gave her a disbelieving look and shook my head.

"You right, not Matt's style" Bonnie said, shaking her head. "I feel so bad, but they're both my friends, it's not like I can take side"

I gave her hand a comforting squeeze, I definitely knew exactly how she felt, on lots of things. Not only was there Matt and Elena and Vicky and Jeremy, but also Caroline and Elena, not to mention Elena wanting Jeremy to stop drugs, it not like I didn't want him to stop, but I know that forcing him to isn't going to help.

Caroline came back from flirting with the bartender trying to get alcoholic drinks when she saw that Stefan was here, and we all sat at a table in the middle of the Grill.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked Stefan, propping her chin on her hand, I could tell she was trying to look as interested as possible.

"Mm-hmm." Stefan replied "and moved when I was still young"

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away" Stefan said shortly.

I felt a wave of sympathy was over me, knowing exactly how it felt to lose you mom and dad. Looking over at Elena o could tell she felt the same.

"I'm sorry" Elena said sympathetically "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to" Stefan said evasively. "I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow"

Stefan looked questioningly at Elena, but it was Bonnie who explained. "It's a back to school thing at the falls"

Stefan turned to look directly at Elena and asked "are you going?"

Elena blushed, so bonnie answered for her "of course she is"

The next day, I rested my chin on my hand as Mr Tanner started talking about The Battle of Willow Creek in his usual droning voice. Why we had to have history so often was beyond me, I suppose I wouldn't mind so much if we had a teacher I actually like, but the whole school knew that Tanner was a first rate jackass.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms Bennett?"

Bonnie looked up in surprise from the doodles on her notebook. "Urm…a lot?" she said and then continued as a few people giggled "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot"

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms Bennett" Tanner said causing Bonnie to blush slightly and look back down at her doodles. "Mr Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay, Mr Tanner. I'm cool with it" Matt smirked, causing more students to laugh.

"Hmm." Was Tanner's only response before he looked about the class room for the next student to pick on.

I rolled my eyes at the fact he didn't comment on Matt's response, and I knew it was because he was on the football team since Tanner was the coach.

"Elena?" Tanner said suddenly, resting his eyes on my twin, who broke form her staring contest with Stefan. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I-I don't know" Elena stuttered, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break" Tanner said sternly and Elena looked down sadly.

I bit my lip as sadness washed over me, willing myself not to break in the middle of class. I couldn't handle who flippantly Tanner mentioned the worst day of my life.

"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians" Stefan cut up suddenly, and I sighed in relief, a wave of gratitude spreading through me to Stefan and I could only assume my twin felt the same way.

"That's correct. Mister…?" Tanner started waiting for Stefan to put in his name.

"Salvatore" Stefan put in.

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant"

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle" Tanner said, as though smug.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, Uh, Stored in civil hall if you'd like the brush up on your facts. Mr Tanner" Stefan replied, and I could see the corner of his lips twitch as though resisting a smirk.

The class let out an 'ooaoo' sound and I had to press my lips together to stop from laughing: it was good to see Tanner get put in his place.

"Hmm" Tanner hummed in response, but it was different than when he did it to Matt, you could now see an underlying glare in Tanner's dark eyes, clearly Stefan was a new member of 'Tanner's least favourite students list' so fare that I knew of it contained me and Jeremy.

I walked through the party, occasionally taking a sip of my beer. The Party was just like any other, there were the stoners, the drunks and the people who just came for a good time with friends, but at the same time it seemed entirely different to me. I was no longer running the show, strutting about the party like I owned it and finding a guy to hook up with as well as hanging around my friends.

Now I was on the outside looking in, watching everyone else as I stood to the side sipping my beer and hiding behind my black hoody.

Vicky was currently sitting with the stoners as they handed out pills now again casting annoyed and hurt glance at Tyler, who was shamelessly flirting with a girl by the keg, missing the longing glances from Jeremy, who was standing next to me, in the exact same position as I was.

Caroline was on her way to being drunk while waiting for Stefen to arrive and I couldn't quite deal with that, as while she may be my best friend, but with my lack of communication nowadays I couldn't comfort her and build up her ego when Stefen chose Elena, and if the longing glances between the two of them had anything to say, he would be choosing my twin.

Bonnie and Elena were currently talking at the centre of the party, and judging by Bonnie's amused look and Elena's blush, I could only assume she was teasing her about Stefen.

Jeremy's brown eyes narrowed next to me when he saw Vicky and Tyler suddenly go into the woods and stalked after them.

I sighed before nodding my head determinately, I said I was going to improve and I meant it. With that thought in mind, I took my hood from my head revealing my curly brown hair and walked over to Elena and Bonnie.

"So where is he?" Bonnie was asking Elena as I got to them and I shot my twin a questioning look.

"Stefan" Elena clarified to me before turning back to Bonnie. "I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one"

"Right, I forgot" Bonnie said teasingly "Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate"

"Wait you need a crystal ball" Elena said jokingly, before taking the empty beer bottle out of my hand and saying "Tada"

As soon as Bonnies hand touch Elena's when she handed her the bottle, she tensed, her eyes glazing over. Elena and I shared a concerned look, but just as it was there, it was gone and Bonnie pulled her hand back sharply, looking afraid and surprised.

"What?" Elena asked worriedly.

"That was weird" Bonnie stated, eyeing Elena and I. "When I touched you, I saw a crow"

I raised a brow but Elena repeated "what?" but this time it was spoken in disbelief.

"A crow. There was fog, a man" Bonnie explained slowly, but she must have noticed that Elena seemed to be getting freaked out with each extra detail so she continued with "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill"

Elena moved to follow, but I stopped her with a shake of my head and followed instead.

When I caught with Bonnie she had already gone through half of the new beer that was now in her hand. I gave her a concerned look.

"I can't be psychic" Bonnie stated. "Effy I know I can't, but when I touched Elena, the feeling I got the images I saw, they seemed so real. And I got this feeling that things are only going to get worse from here"

I wanted to tell her that it was okay and that I understood and that maybe being psychic wouldn't be so bad, she could probably get a lot of use out of it, but I couldn't, I just…I couldn't, so I settled for giving her a one armed embrace and she sunk into it.

"Thanks Effy, I just needed to purge" Bonnie said, she sighed before shaking her head and forcing a smile "it's fine"

I gave her a disbelieving look.

"Okay, so it's not, but I'll deal with it" Bonnie said reluctantly.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" my twin's panicked voice suddenly shouted and mine and Bonnie's heads both snapped in her direction.

My eyes widened in horror when I noticed that Elena and Jeremy were holding Vicky's body, Elena pressing her jacket to her neck, blood turning the material red.

I hesitated a second in shock before I rushed over there, Matt just a second behind saying "Vicky? Vicky, what the hell?!"

I took off my own hoody and swapped places with Elena, as her jacket was too soaked with blood to help much anymore.

"What happened to her?" Tyler asked coming up to us with a worried look in his eyes and I could tell that he did care about Vicky, even if it wasn't as much as she clearly cared about him.

"Somebody call an ambulance" Matt shouted to everyone at the party, not taking his eyes off of his older sisters pale face.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. she's losing a lot of blood" Elena informed Matt and Tyler, helping me to put more pressure on the wound as my hand were shaking so badly with worry and tears were filling my eyes as I looked down at my friend.

"Vicky, Vicky, come on, open your eyes, look at me" Matt cried desperately, placing his hand on Vicky's cheek.

"_What's going on?" Zack asked curiously as Stefen rushed into the boarding house, heading straight for the stairs._

"_Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me" Stefen stated, not giving Zach enough time to elaborate before he quickly ran to his bedroom. _

_Stefen turned quickly as a crow cawed from a beam on his ceiling. He breathed in deeply, hit with a scent he was all too familiar with. _

"_Damon" Stefen stated._

_He turned to look at his brother, his dark black hair contrasting to Stefen's own and Damon's blue eyes were guarded as he gave Stefen his usual smirk._

"_Hello, brother" Damon said, the smirk never faltering, if anything it grew more prominent. _

"_Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefen asked coldly, regarding his older brother with suspicion._

"_Wait till you see what I can do with the fog" Damon teased, picking up a book off of Stefen's desk before throwing it back down, uninterested. _

"_When'd you get here?"_

"_Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school" Damon said mockingly "your hair's different. I like it."_

"_It been fifteen years Damon" Stefen stated tiredly._

"_Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefen, it's important to stay away from fads"_

"_Why are you here?" Stefen demanded his irritation growing. _

"_I miss my little brother" Damon stated innocently, but his smirk indicated he was lying._

"_You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do"_

"_I've managed to keep myself busy"_

"_You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you"_

"_Ah that can be a problem" Damon said seriously, before his smirk was back and he added "for you"_

"_Why are you here now?" Stefen demanded._

"_I could ask you the same question. However I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word…Elena" Damon smirked before continuing "she's a dead ringer for Katherine and Rosa. Is it working Stefen? Being around her being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" _

"_She's not them" Stefen stated, not bothering to mention that Effy looks even more like Katherine and her twin due to the curly hair, as if Damon was unaware of Elena's twin, he certainly wasn't going to bring his attention to it. _

"_Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had anything stronger than a squirrel" Damon mocked._

"_I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not going to work."_

"_Yeah?" Damon raised his brows challengingly "come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon asked shoving Stefen. _

"_Stop it" Stefen muttered, feeling his annoyance rise as Damon began to get under his skin, just like he always did. _

"_Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple of girls out there. Or let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Elena" Damon continued shoving Stefen with each pause. _

"_Stop it!" Stefan shouted glaring angrily._

"_Imagine what her blood tastes like!" Damon shouted back._

_Stefan felt his control snap as veins appeared under his eyes and his canines elongated into fangs. _

"_I can" Damon teased, trying to get his younger brother to lash out._

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked Caroline for the tenth time.

Caroline smiled and lifted her head and I felt hope spark in me, but just as it appeared it went when her smile disappeared and she let her head down onto her hand again saying "no"

I groaned and banged my head on the table, one of my best friends was attacked by an animal and I really just wanted to go home, but I had to wait for Caroline to sober up.

I picked up Caroline's coffee and basically shoved it in her face trying to get her to drink more.

"Effy's right, keep drinking" Bonnie said nodding in my direction "I gotta get you two home. I gotta get me home"

"Why didn't he go for me?" Caroline whined "You know, how come all the guys that I want never want me"

"I'm not touching that" Bonnie stated leaning back in her chair.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And…Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and…I'm never the one"

I bit my lip and grabbed her hand comfortingly. I felt rather guilty, as whenever Caroline started feeling jealous of my twin I was always the one to build up her ego to make sure she knew she was just as good, but for the last six months, I wasn't able to do that, and still can't. I just can't move on, no matter how hard I try, ii will never be back to the way I was before.

"It's not a competition Caroline" Bonnie said wearily.

"Yeah, it is" Caroline disagreed and Bonnie and I shared worried glances.

"You know what, I'm going to take Effy home, you keep drinking and get sober and I'll come back for you okay?" Bonnie said, frowning, clearly not wanting to deal with an insecure Caroline any more.

I sent one last worried glance at Caroline and squeezed her hand, before heading out of the grill with Bonnie.


	4. the night of the comet

Chapter two

_The night of the comet_

I woke up wearily and glanced over at my alarm clock hoping I could get in a few more minutes of sleep, before I groaned realising I had to get ready now to be ready in time.

Pulling myself out of bed I quickly did my usual morning routine before pulling on my usual attire of a hoody, jeans and converse.

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" Jenna was asking Elena as I exited my room.

She was wearing a royal blue dress that hugged her curves while still looking sophisticated and it stopped at her knee.

"Depends on where you're going" Elena replied.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference. Hair up or down?" Jenna said and grabbed her strawberry blonde hair and pulling it up.

"Sexy Stewardess" Elena said, and I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing.

Jenna let her hair fall down, making Elena say "Boozy housewife" and I couldn't help releasing a snort of laughter.

Jenna's brows rose in surprise before saying "Up it is. You're feisty today"

"I feel good, which is rare. So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on the sunshine, and all that stuff" Elena replied and I had never wanted to mock someone more than I did in that moment, not only because of her wording, but because I knew she was feeling like that because of Stefan, he didn't leave till late last night "Where's Jeremy?"

"He left early. Something about getting to wood shop to finish a birdhouse" Jenna replied looking in the mirror on the wall.

Elena and I share a glance and Jenna pauses.

"There is no wood shop, is there?"

"No"

"Yeah" Jenna sighs, he shoulders slumping.

"So I made the mistake of telling Grams about that feeling I got at the party, you remember Effy?" Bonnie said and I nodded, before she continued "And she just goes on and on about how it's my powers"

"I'm confused" Caroline cut in, as we opened the door to enter the school "Are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Technically, Gram's says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so" Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night" Caroline said with a dreamy look on her face, making me laugh.

"I didn't see him, you did" Bonnie grinned "Why didn't you just talk to him?"

"I don't know, I was drunk" Caroline shrugged, making us all laugh. "But you should have seen him Effy, seriously smut worthy. He was at least a nine on the hotness scale" Caroline said excitedly.

I raised my brow. Wow a nine, it's been a while since we've had one of those in town, maybe excluding Stefan, he was definitely up there.

"He had this jet black hair and the most beautiful blue eyes, and he looked all hot in his black clothes and leather jacket. He had that whole mysterious thing going for him" Caroline continued, the dreamy look on her face again.

School went by rather quickly which I was glad about, I really couldn't deal with anymore school, I'm still getting the pitying looks and every time I do it just makes me want to sink further into myself, that's why I was glad that Caroline, Bonnie, Elena and I were meeting up.

"Well I was talking to Grams" Bonnie started and I noticed Caroline role her blue eyes out of the corner of my eyes and I repressed a smile, it did seem like every conversation with Bonnie lately was about her Grams "and she said that the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity"

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens" Caroline said impatiently and Bonnie mock glared at me when I laughed "so then what?" Caroline asked turning to Elena.

"So then nothing" Elena stated.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline asked in disbelief.

"Nope. We didn't go there" Elena said.

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline asked exasperated "I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut"

"We just talked for hours" Elena explained.

"Ok, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already!" Caroline exclaimed. "Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes by, sex!" Caroline finished with a smirk.

"Profound" Elena rolled her eyes.

Elena paused looking thoughtful, before she abruptly stood up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked in surprise.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do" Elena said determinately before turning into me and holding out her hand "Effy, keys"

I handed her the keys from the pocket of my hoody and she stalked off towards our car with her 'I'm on a mission walk', it was the same walk she had when she decided she was going to ask Matt out.

"She started of the day saying she was going to jump Stefan's bones?" Bonnie asked mockingly and I snorted with laughter.

"Oh, Effy, I just remembered. Elena asked Matt about Vicky for you" Bonnie said gaining my attention "Apparently she doing fine, it looks like she was attacked by an animal but they don't know what. Vicky couldn't help either, according to Matt she woke up, muttered vampire, before passing out again"

My brows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, I reckon she was just stoned and hallucinated, she probably just wanted more attention" Caroline said and I raised a disbelieving brow, she did not just say that when my friend was in the hospital "and I say that with sympathy" Caroline added quickly seeing my expression so I smiled and shook my head knowing Caroline's tendency to put her foot in her mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Jeremy walking in the general direction of home. I quickly waved goodbye to Bonnie and Caroline before rushing to catch up to my little brother.

"Hey Effy" Jeremy said when he noticed me and we both began to walk home silently, before Jeremy spoke again "I visited Vicky at the hospital today instead of going to school" Jeremy said sadly.

I shot him an alarmed look at Jeremy noticing his sad tone and hoping my friend hadn't taken a turn for the worse.

"Oh, no, she's ok" Jeremy said quickly, noticing my expression "I just don't like seeing her like that, you know?" I nodded in understanding, still unable to get Vicky's pale face out of my head when I was putting pressure on her bleeding neck at the party "and of course Tyler hasn't even visited, I just don't get why she would choose to be with him, he obviously doesn't care, and I care so much, and she just ignore it"

I sighed in sympathy and linked my arm through his, resting my head on his shoulder so my curls fell down his back.

"I picked up dinner. Tacos. I had an urge for guacamole" Jenna said as soon as Jeremy and I entered the house and i shared a suspicious glance with my brother at our Aunt's rambling.

"No, we're good, thanks" Jeremy answered.

"Eat anyway. It's a ruse. I want to talk" Jenna said and Jeremy and I shared another glance and started to leave, but Jenna stopped us.

"Hey, you two! Come. Sit." I sighed and sat down next to Jeremy "Back in school, freshman yea, I could eat my weight in nachos with extra cheese. It was my munchie food whenever I got stoned"

I looked at her disbelievingly.

"You get high?" Jeremy asked in amusement.

"Did. Past tense. But, yeah. Loved it. Anything to get a little distraction from life…reality. And it worked. For a while. Then I just shut myself off like you Effy, hardly spoke a word, but it didn't last. I realised that it was better to open up and let go. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to rail back and kick it or hide from the world…"

Jeremy and I quickly left when Jenna turned her back to us.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Jeremy asked Vicky as soon as we arrived at the Grill.

"I'm ok" Vicky said, giving me a smile before glaring at Jeremy.

"I…I'm gonna…I'm gonna go grab a coffee." Matt said, before giving Jeremy and I a small smile saying "Hey Eff, Jer"

Vicky sighed. "Not that I don't love seeing Effy, but why are you here Jeremy?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing" Jeremy replied, looking put out at her lack of attention.

"Did you see that look on Matt's face? That was suspicion. I don't want people to find out about us, Jeremy. I don't mind Effy knowing since she's probably the only person I share everything with, but no one else"

I put my hand over my heart mockingly and she faux glared, shoving my shoulder.

"You get over that" Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"Tyler is finally showing some interest" Vicky told us in an annoyed tone and Jeremy and I shared a sceptical look, not believing for a second that he was actually starting to care, if he did, he would have visited Vicky in the hospital.

"You have to get over that, too. Do you see Mr concerned?" Jeremy asked sarcastically, before mockingly looking under the table "Tyler? Are you under there?" he turned back to Vicky "No"

I laughed and Vicky gave a reluctant smile.

"It's not cool for people to know. Ok?" Vicky sighed. "I'm older than you, and unlike Effy" She said nodding in my direction "Matt and Elena would freak"

I bit my lip, she was right there. Matt wouldn't want his older sister dating his ex-girlfriend's little brother and Elena would disapprove of the fact that Vicky does drugs and party's hard, thinking she was a bad influence on Jeremy and she had been trying to get Jeremy off drugs all summer.

"No one's going to suspect a thing, right Effy?" Jeremy said looking at me and I nodded in agreement, Tyler may know that Jeremy has a crush on Vicky, but no one other than me knows that anything actually happened between the two of them. "See, Effy agrees, and besides, why wouldn't I check on you? I mean, I'm the one who found you"

"You are?" Vicky asked, finally giving Jeremy her full attention.

"Yeah, I carried you out of the woods" Jeremy smiled, clearly pleased with Vicky's attention.

"Thank you" Vicky said gratefully.

"Yeah, you're welcome" Jeremy said, his brown eyes locked on Vicky's blue ones.

I looked between them awkwardly and decided to leave them to it, deciding to go back home.

When I got home Elena was sitting at the kitchen table eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I sat down opposite her and gave her a concerned look.

"You know how I went over to the Salvatore Boarding House to see Stefan?" Elena asked and I nodded "Well, when I got there he wasn't there, but his brother Damon was" she told me.

My brows furrowed in confusion. I didn't think he had a brother. I tilted my head to the side giving her a questioning look wondering if she knew.

Elena shook her head. "I know, I didn't know he had a brother either. Anyway I was talking to him and he mentioned Stefan's ex-girlfriends, Katherine and Rosa, apparently they died and it basically destroyed Stefan, and then when Stefan finally showed up he didn't even pay any attention to me, he just glared at his brother." Elena sighed.

I gave her sympathetic look a stroked her straight brown hair comfortingly.

"So he's on the rebound and has raging family issues" Elena concluded eating another spoonful of ice cream just as Jenna entered.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend" Jenna said "wait until you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues"

I snorted in laughter and Elena opened her mouth to respond, looking amused, when Jeremy entered, and stealing Jenna's attention.

"Jeremy? Jeremy where were you?" Jenna demanded following Jeremy to the stairs.

"More stoner stories? Look Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's…that's cool" Jeremy grinned, giving Jenna the thumbs up.

I sighed, clearly he and Vicky decided to get high together when I left.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna shouted and threw an apple at Jeremy's head and I couldn't stop the spurt of laughter that escaped my mouth when Jeremy stopped on his way up the stairs.

"Ow! Why? Why…why would you do that?" Jeremy asked, stumbling over his words with his foggy brain.

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion" Jenna ordered, eyes narrowed.

"Parental authority" Jeremy drawled with a lazy smile "I like it. Sleep tight" he said before disappearing up the stairs.

Elena sighed looking at the stairs sadly where Jeremy had left and then checked her watch. "I best get going, Bonnie and I need to hand out flyers for the night of the comet. Are you coming Eff?" Elena asked and I shook my head, not feeling like going out.

Elena nodded and kissed the curls on top of my head before leaving.

I sighed and sat down on the settee turning on the TV, Jenna quickly joining me.

"I don't know what to do" Jenna moaned and I shot her a questioning look. "About you and Jeremy" She elaborated and I gave her a hesitant look, not really feeling up to Jenna trying to tell me to open up and talk again "I entirely blame Mr Tanner. I didn't think anything of it at first, thinking you would both get better in time. But it not like I never knew I was screwing up, I'm an aunt, I'm not a parent, I just don't know what to do"

I raised an eyebrow. Why would she listen to Tanner? No wonder she's been laying it on thick today, Tanner hates Jeremy and me.

I gripped her hand comfortingly, and just sat next to her silently, hoping just my presence would help. Jenna sighed again and let her head fall onto my shoulder, blowing my curls out of her face.

After a few minutes of watching TV in silence, Jenna stood up a determined look on her face.

"You know what, I'm just gonna raid his bedroom, if I get rid of his stash hopefully he will realise I'm serious." Jenna said "want to help?"

I held my hands up in a surrender position, telling her I didn't want to be involved, before going up to bed.


	5. friday night bites

Chapter three

_Friday Night Bites_

I groaned as the shrill sound of the alarm woke me up. I didn't get much sleep last night, nightmares spinning around in my head. Ranging from the night my parent's car went off of Wickerey Bridge, to Vicky getting attacked by an unknown animal, before it morphed into a vampire.

I pulled my hair into a pony tail, my curls tickling my shoulders and pulled on my usual clothes and re painting my nails, the same black colour it was before.

"So I went back to the Boarding house" Elena told Bonnie and I as we walked down the school hallway "and I decided you were right Bonnie, I was only finding reasons I couldn't go through with it, so I explained it to him, and I think things between us are better than ever"

"Really? Are you sure you're ready?£ Bonnie asked, and Elena and I both turned to her, looking even more identical due to the same expressions of disbelief on our faces.

"Bonnie, I like Stefan. I really like him" Elena said.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy" Bonnie said defensively "I'm just saying take it slow"

"You were the one who said to go for it" Elena said confused.

"Now I'm saying take it slow" Bonnie stressed. "Back me up here Effy"

Bonnie and Elena both turned to me and I fidgeted awkwardly before I shook my head, deciding to take my twins side. Elena smiled gratefully and Bonnie sighed.

"See, Effy gets it" Elena said to Bonnie "So why the about-face?"

"It's not an about-face." Bonnie denied "You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

I snorted in disbelief. This was Elena we were talking about she's the serious relationship typed, she had only had two boyfriends in her life, Matt and a boy called josh who she 'dated' when we were seven.

"Oh, because I'm so that girl" Elena rolled her eyes clearly thinking along the same lines as me. "Seriously, what aren't you saying?"

"It's stupid" Bonnie muttered.

I gave her an impatient look, making her say "What?"

"Spit it out" Elena said.

Bonnie sighed. "I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling"

Elena and I shared a look.

"Is that it?" Elena asked "Bonnie" she shook her head.

"It was _bad_ bad!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena sighed.

"You know what?" Bonnie said suddenly, holding her hand up in a surrender position "I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend"

"And I love you for it, o do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that." Elena explained.

I smiled feeling happy that things were going well for my twin. I supressed my small twinge of jealousy that Elena was dealing with this so much better than I was, that she was actually managing to move on, well I was stuck, shutting myself of and caving in on myself bit by bit.

"Good morning Elena" Stefan said with a smile and I watched as Elena's brown eyes lit up with happiness at the sight of him and I smiled. Stefan then turned to Bonnie and I "Good morning Effy, Bonnie"

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later" Bonnie said, quickly leaving before I could show her the text Caroline sent me, saying she had hooked up with a guy and would probably be late.

"She doesn't like me very much" Stefan stated, but I could see a slight look of hurt in his eyes.

"She doesn't know you" Elena said comfortingly, clearly noticing Stefan's expression too "She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you. Right Effy?" Elena said, looking for me for support.

I nodded in reply, giving Stefan a warm smile, before waving and leaving to go and find Vicky.

"_Does Effy not like me either?" Stefan asked Elena, as he watched his girlfriend's twin disappear down the hall. _

_Elena gave him a confused look. "Of course she does, what gave you that idea?"_

_Stefan looked down at his girlfriend, trying to see if she was lying before deciding she was telling the truth. He could easily read her expressions, which was so different to Katherine and Rosa, who were always so guarded, but then again, he already knew Elena and her sister were nothing like them._

"_Well, she never talks to me" Stefan said._

"_Oh she doesn't talk to anyone, not anymore" Elena said sadly "she hasn't said a word since our parent's deaths, she's an entirely different person"_

"_Oh, I'm sorry" Stefan said guiltily._

_Elena shook her head before smiling, deciding to change the subject._

"_Here's what we're going to do" Elena said excitedly "are you free tonight?"_

"_Yes"_

"_Perfect" Elena smiled "Dinner, my house. 8:00. You, me, Effy and Bonnie. You will get to know Effy, so that you can read her expressions easier, since that's the only way you can communicate and you will get to spend some quality time with Bonnie and she'll get to see what an amazing guy you are. Mission Accomplished"_

"I don't get Tyler" Vicky groaned as we walked through the school "sometimes he can be really sweet when we're together, like a proper boyfriend, but then around other people or when he's annoyed he just…he acts like the dick everybody says he is and I just can't decide which side of him is real"

I gave her a sympathetic look I gave her a one armed hug.

I had to say that I didn't get Tyler either, I knew that he had to deal with quite a bit at home since his mom's always busy and his dad's a dick so that makes him lash out, but I'm not sure if he is just like his dad, or he is just trying to hide what he's really like. Not to mention when it came to Vicky's relationships, I was team Jeremy all the way, not because he's my brother, but because I think he would be good for her.

The bell rang and I groaned, knowing I had history with Tanner now.

Out of boredom I looked behind me at Bonnie and noticed her writing '8, 14, 22' on her book. I gave her a questioning glance and she just shrugged.

"World war II ended in…Anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" Tanner asked, but didn't wait for Carly Juan to answer before he said "1945"

Tanner was such a sucky teacher, not only was he judgemental but he only picked on people who didn't know the answers, I swear he gets a kind of sick thrill at embarrassing people. I rolled my eyes, a gesture which unfortunately tanner caught and he scowled at me.

"Pearl Harbour" Tanner stated, but the class didn't say anything. "Miss Gilbert?" Tanner asked, focusing his gaze on my twin.

"Hmm?" Elena asked in surprise, looking up from whispering with Stefan, probably about football, I had heard about what happened when Tyler through the ball at him from numerous people as Vicky and I walked around school, and knowing my sister, she was probably trying to get him to join the team.

"Um…" Elena stuttered, turning red.

"December 7, 1941" Stefan answered for her and she shot him a grateful look, making me smile, at least he was the type of guy who helped out his girlfriend, I definitely couldn't see Tyler doing that for Vicky.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert" Tanner said to Stefan, who answered "anytime" making me laugh with the rest of the class.

"Very well" Tanner said narrowing his eyes challengingly at Stefan. "The fall of the Berlin wall"

"1989" Stefan stated immediately, giving Tanner a small smirk and saying "I'm good with dates, sir"

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act"

"1964"

"John F. Kennedy assassination"

"1963"

"Martin Luther King"

"'68"

"Lincoln"

"1865"

"Roe vs. Wade"

"1973"

"Brown vs. Board"

"1954"

"The battle of Gettysburg"

"1863"

"Korean war"

"1950 to 1953"

"Ha! It ended in '52" Tanner said triumphantly and I pressed my lips together, resisting the urge to laugh at his pleased expression, he was the teacher, he was supposed to teach, not hope the student was wrong.

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53" Stefan disagreed.

"Look it up, somebody, quickly" Tanner snapped.

Chris Matthew's from the back of the room, pulled out his phone and said "it was 19…53"

This time I did laugh along with a few other students while the others made an 'ooaoo' sound.

I wandered around the school grounds wondering what to do with myself, Caroline still wasn't in school and Bonnie and Elena were at Cheerleading practice and I wasn't feeling particular 'cheery' right not. I used to love cheerleading, but it just…didn't really matter anymore. I knew Elena felt the same way, even if she denied it, she had my face, so it was hard not for me to tell she was in denial.

I then spotted Stefan at the football stands and paused for a moment, debating whether to go over, before I made a snap decision and sat next to him on the bleachers.

"Hey Effy" Stefan said, slightly surprised and I shot him a smile. "So I guess you heard I decided to try out for Football" Stefan said.

I raised my brows giving him a disbelieving look. I could tell that Elena had convinced him, rather than him just deciding.

"What?" He asked confused and I nodded over to the cheerleaders. Stefan bit his lip and smiled "Okay, so maybe Elena convinced me rather than me deciding" he said reluctantly, making me laugh.

"Nice Job! Nice job!" Matt cheered mockingly, as someone took the ball off of Tyler, but Matt's teasing attitude vanished when Tanner started to speak.

"Mr Lockwood, is there anything you're good at? 'Cause it isn't history, and it sure as hell isn't defending the ball!" Mr Tanner shouted and I glared at him angrily.

"Yes, coach" Tyler said put out.

"Now do it again" Tanner ordered.

"God, he's a dick" Stefan muttered next to me and I shot him a grin, I think he and I were going to get along just fine, well as long as he treated my twin well, but from what I have seen so far, the chances of him hurting her are slim.

"Oh, has Elena told you about dinner tonight?" Stefan asked.

I gave him a questioning look.

"I'm gonna take that as a no" Stefan smile "Elena said that you, me, Bonnie and her are having dinner at 8:00 a whole, get to know the boyfriend thing"

I laughed and rolled my eyes that seemed like the type of thing my twin would do.

"I should probably talk to Tanner about joining huh?" Stefan sighed.

I gave him an encouraging smile, but he didn't move, so I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to Tanner, much to his surprise.

"Yes?" Tanner demanded, glaring at us.

"urm…" Stefan said, looking down at me and I gave him another encouraging smile "I was wondering if I could try out for the team"

"Varsity trials were last spring, Mr Salvatore" Tanner said shortly.

"I wasn't here then" Stefan said, before quickly adding "sir"

"And you're not here now as far as I'm concerned" Tanner said, looking over to where the team was practicing, so he missed the glare I sent him.

"Mr Tanner, I realise that you and I didn't get the best start, and I want to apologize for that. I've played football before. Wide receiver, mostly, and I'm pretty good" Stefan said determinately.

"Well, I won't be asking you who won the super bowl in '71" Tanner said sarcastically.

"'71 was the…" Stefan started but I elbowed him in the side, making him stop "Sorry. I…I understand that, sir"

"Just to see you get knocked on your ass. Borrow some gear." Tanner said and I scowled, I swear he should have been fired by now on how he treats students "Go! Before I change my mind." Tanner snapped and Stefan ran to the changing room and I returned to the bleachers. "Let's run it again!" Tanner shouted at the team.

"_Do you know if Effy's coming?" Bonnie asked as her and Elena stretch with the rest of the cheerleaders._

"_I think she decided to quit" Elena said, touching her toes._

"_I swear she is the only one who can ditch cheerleading and not after fear Caroline" Bonnie laughed and Elena smiled in agreement. "Speaking of Caroline, where is she?"_

"_I don't know. It's not like her" Elena replied looking around as though expecting her to be hiding in the bleachers._

"_I'll try her again" Bonnie said, pulling out her phone, but paused when a black car pulled up._

_Caroline emerged from it dressed in a tank, short shorts and a scarf around her neck, before she leaned over and kissed the black hair, blue eyes man in the car. _

"_Uh…" Elena stuttered, clearly unsure on what to say._

"_Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the grill" Bonnie said, standing up._

"_That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore" Elena explained, getting to her feet._

"_Salvatore as in Stefan?" Bonnie asked and Elena nodded._

Elena and I shared a sceptical look as Bonnie tried to tell us that she was starting to think her Grams was right and she was psychic.

"You explain it, then" Bonnie said, noticing the look I and Elena shared "last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that gut and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop" Elena said, and I swear it must be a twin thing or something because she had been saying what's on my mind a lot lately.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14 and 22. You remember Effy, I wrote them on my book in History?" She said and I nodded "how weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery" Elena teased and I giggled as I pulled the food out of the oven. "Have you talked to your Grams?"

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you two want to be a witch?"

I shook my head and Elena said "I don't want to be a witch" as she took the to-go food off of me and poured it into a bowl.

"And putting it into a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody" Bonnie laughed.

"Ok, serving spoons" Elena said to herself, patting her body as though she expected them to be in her jean pockets, before turning to me and asking "Where the serving spoon?" and I shrugged In response.

"Middle drawer on your left" Bonnie said pointing.

I opened the drawer and sure enough, the serving spoons were there, I handed them to Elena and looked at Bonnie curiously. She did seem to be having a lot of psychic feelings lately, maybe her Grams could be right, I mean there were a lot of people who claimed to be psychic and not all of them could be frauds.

The doorbell rings and Elena turned to Bonnie "Okay, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self" and left to get the door.

"Birthday candles" Bonnie murmured and I shot her a curious glance, thinking she had gone crazy and was talking gibberish, before she opened the draw in front of her and birthday candles were sitting inside.

I looked at Bonnie with wide eyes.

"Do you have an explanation for that?" Bonnie asked me hopefully and I just shook my head.

"Yeah" she sighed, and picked up the cutlery to take into the dining room while I grabbed the food.

I had never been part of a more awkward dinner in my life. It was so quiet it was unbelievable, the only sound was the occasional clink when someone's fork came into contact with their plate.

"Did Tanner give you hard time today?" Elena asked Stefan suddenly breaking the silence, and I had never loved my twin more than I did in that moment.

"Well he let me on the team so I must have done something right. It was a good thing Effy was there really, she basically forced me to ask Tanner if I could join the team" Stefan said and we shared a smile.

"Effy was there?" Elena asked in surprise, looking at me.

"Yeah, she helped encourage me" Stefan said and Elena gave me a grateful look, which I returned with a shrug, what kind of twin would I be if I was mean to her boyfriend.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today." Elena said, turning to Bonnie, clearly trying to get her to communicate with Stefan "Tyler threw a ball right at him, and…"

"Yeah I heard" Bonnie cut in.

I sighed and slouched down in my chair as we went back to sitting in silence.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena asked Bonnie, giving her a pleading look.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with dad" Bonnie said shortly, and she avoided my gaze when I glared at her, she wasn't even trying.

"No, about the witches" Elena said and turned to Stefan "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool"

"Cool isn't the word I would use" Bonnie said and I kicked her under the table making her glare at me, but I just glared back.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800's" Stefan said and I looked at him in surprise, I swore he must spend his free time reading history books.

"My family came by way of Salem" Bonnie told him.

"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked, interested.

"Yeah"

"I would say that's pretty cool" Stefan smiled.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Salem Witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity" Stefan said and I sighed in relief knowing that Bonnie would like him saying that, as she had basically told me and Caroline the same thing.

"Yeah, they are" Bonnie said with a smile, her dark brown eyes lightened up.

Elena and I shared identical grins, knowing he had won her over.

The doorbell rung and we all shared confused glances.

"I wonder who that can be" Elena mused getting up to answer it, but I shook my head and went to answer it myself, not thinking Bonnie and Stefan should be left without a buffer just yet.

"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert!" Caroline exclaimed holding up a pie as soon as I opened the door.

I looked at her curiously, wondering when the last time she had ever just decided to drop by was and then moving my gaze to look at the man standing next to her. he look to be about twenty and he had a mop of jet black hair, steely blue eyes and pale skin, I guessed this must be the guy she had seen at the grill, he certainly met the description.

"Hope you don't mind" The man said, a smirk on his lips.

"Effy who's at the-" Elena started then paused when she saw Caroline and her mystery guy.

The guy eyes widened in surprise and looked from me to Elena and back again.

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure, I'm Damon Salvatore, Stefan's older brother" he told me, still smirking.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan's voice came behind me suddenly, making me jump.

"Waiting for Elena or Effy to invite me in" Damon told his brother, and I noticed that Stefan just glared at him; clearly Elena was right when he said there were family issues.

"Oh, yeah, you can…" Elena started as Caroline walked in, but Stefan cut her off.

"No, no, no. He can't, uh…he can't stay. Can you Damon?" Stefan said, his gaze never straying from his brother.

"Get in here" Caroline said impatiently.

"We're just…finishing up" Stefan said, clearly a last ditch effort to make him leave.

"It's fine" Elena said brushing Stefan off "Just come on in"

"You have a beautiful home" Damon told Elena and I as he brushed past us.

"Thank you" Elena said, clearly missing the triumphant grin I saw Damon send Stefan, he was clearly up to something, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, after all he was dating my best friend.

"I cannot believe that Mr Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething." Caroline laughed "But good for you. Go for it"

"That's what I always tell him" Damon put in "You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it" he said but the way he said it and the fact that Stefan glared at him made me feel like there was a hidden meaning in everything he said.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today." Caroline said, clearly not noticing the tension. "It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines"

I pressed my lips together as I tried to hold back a laugh when Elena's hands tightened on her coffee mug, she really did have a talent of putting her foot in her mouth.

"I'll work with her. she'll get it" Bonnie said quickly, giving Elena a reassuring smile.

"I guess we can put her in the back" Caroline mused, and my lips twitched as a smile was trying to break through.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena" Damon said, looking at my twin.

Elena opened her mouth to respond but Caroline beat her to it "Oh, that's just because Her and Effy's parents died. Yeah, I mean, they're just totally going the a blah faze. They used to be way more fun." Caroline said, but seemed to notice Elena's forlorn expression because she added. "and I say that with complete sensitivity"

I turned my ead away from her pretending to be mad.

"Oh come on Effy, don't be like that" Caroline said "I'll buy you a new pair of shoes?" I just shook my head, repressing a smile "I'll drive you anywhere you want to go for a week?" I pressed my lips together so I wouldn't laugh and shook my head again "I'll buy you dinner at the grill and even be nice to Vicky" Caroline said and she must have been really desperate because she's never nice to the stoners.

I couldn't help it, I looked at Caroline and began to laugh, Bonnie and Elena quickly joining me.

Caroline mouth fell open in surprise.

"You bitch!" She exclaimed, punching my arm "I thought you were mad at me. that was really mean"

"When has Effy ever been nice?" Elena asked innocently making me look at her in mock offence.

"Yes well I think I should get revenge" Caroline said evilly and I narrowed my eyes at her, noticing Stefan and Damon looking curious and amuse out of the corner of my eyes. "You two hold her down and I'll straighten her hair, she'll be like a double of Elena"

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open in horror as I gripped my curls in my hands. I loved the fact that my hair was curly, always teasing Elena saying that her hair was as boring as her personality.

They all started to laugh at me, even Stefan and Damon, making me pout.

"What's so wrong with having straight hair?" Damon asked me and I just stared at him, unsure what to do, it had been a while since someone asked me something that required an actual answer.

Damon looked confused before looking to Caroline.

"Oh, Effy doesn't talk since her parents died" Caroline said off handily and I raised a brow at her "again said with the upmost sensitivity" she added making me smile.

"I'm sorry, Effy, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die" Damon apologized, but something told me he was doing it more to bait Stefan than to be polite.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon" Stefan said sternly.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was to bring them up. Mmm." Damon said and I narrowed my eyes, guessing he was talking about Stefan's ex-girlfriends, something told me they weren't just Stefan's exes.

_Elena placed the cup she had just washed onto the draining board, planning to get Effy to wash them later._

"_On more" A voice said behind her making her jump, it was Damon holding his now empty muf._

"_Oh, thank you" Elena said with a small smile about to take the cup off of him, but Damon drops it, before quickly catching it again._

"_Nice save" she laughed taking the cup off of him to wash._

"_I like you" Damon told her "You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a long time"_

"_Earlier" Elena says slowly "Did you mean…Katherine and Rosa?"_

"_Mm-hmm" Damon says shortly, repressing a smile that his plan was working._

"_How did they die?"_

_Damon paused for a moment before saying, "In a fire. Tragic fire"_

"_Recently"_

"_It seems like only yesterday" Damon responded a pained look entering her eyes._

"_What were they like?" Elena asked softly._

"_They were twins, very beautiful. A lot like you and Effy in that department. They were very alike, both very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."_

"_So which one of you dated them first?" Elena asked, handing Damon his now dry cup._

"_Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine" Damon told her._

"Okay, so I think Elena was right" Bonnie sighed as she touched up her make-up in my bedroom mirror.

I gave her a curious look.

"Stefan is actually I nice guy and I can tell he cares a lot about Elena" Bonnie said reluctantly and I nodded in agreement.

"It's just, when I accidentally touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold and it…it was death. It was what I imagined death to be like" she told me and I frowned in confusion.

Elena had finally come to her senses and quit cheerleading; apparently it was something Damon said to her, much to my surprise.

"I think I know where the family issues come from now" Elena told me as we made our way to the football field.

I looked at her curiously, gesturing for her to continue.

"Well, you know Stefan's ex-girlfriends? Rosa and Katherine?" she asked and I nodded "Well, they were twins, and I'm pretty sure they like to share everything, if you know what I mean" she told me.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust and she said "Yeah, I know, I couldn't imagine us ever being like that"

I nodded in agreement.

"Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your Jersey" Elena said to Stefan as she kissed him.

"Hey Elena, Effy" He greeted and I smiled before he turned back to Elena "What happened? No more cheerleader?"

"I quit. I'm a quitter" She sighed.

"No, hey, you're not a quitter" Stefan said comfortingly "you suffered a great loss. You're not the same person. You should be looking ahead. You should be starting over. Ok?" Stefan said and I smiled when my sister nodded and looked at him happily "I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but…I, uh, I wanted you to have this." Stefan told her, handing her a box.

I watched curiously as Elena opened it and she gasped as she looked at the beautiful silver necklace inside.

"I, uh, I also got this for you Effy" Stefan said handing me a box and I my eyes widened in surprise.

I opened the box carefully and inside was a simple leather band with a silver charm in the middle; it was something that fitted with my old style, and my new.

"Hmm… I think you're trying to butter my twin up to make me like you more" Elena teased as I put on the bracelet.

"You caught me" Stefan grinned.

Elena bought her necklace up to her nose and I frowned in confusion and did the same with my bracelet on my wrist, noticing it had a flowery smell.

"Is tha rose that smell?" Elena asked Stefan.

"No, it's, uh…it's an herb. It's nice huh?" Stefan asked us.

I nodded as Elena said "I love it"

I left when Elena turned around to let Stefan put the necklace on her, not wanting to spoil their moment.

I quickly ran after Jeremy when he pushed Elena away from him. I couldn't believe he got into a fight with Tyler and I definitely couldn't believe he came at him and Stefan with a piece of glass, I sure hoped it was the alcohol because I could barely deal with the drugs, I don't think I could cope with him becoming violent.

"Leave me alone Effy" Jeremy snapped, when I tried to stop him.

I glared angrily and grabbed his arm, pulling him into a girls toilet, which was luckily empty, it took a lot more effort than I thought it would with Jeremy struggling the whole time.

He scowled at me as I pushed him down to sit on the toilet lid. I grabbed some toilet paper quickly and forced him to tip his head back so I could put it under his nose to stop it bleeding.

Jeremy held the paper there for a while and it we sat in silence, waiting for him to stop bleeding. When he finally did I wet some more tissue and began cleaning the blood off his face.

"Thanks" Jeremy muttered as I started cleaning up his blood knuckles.

He sighed "He just makes me so angry, he goes around flirting with other girls and talking shit about Vicky to me and I just…I just snapped. I can't take it, she deserves someone who cares about her."

I gave him a sympathetic look and began to stroke the ends of his hair.

"I care about her, why can't she see that, she's just the one thing that I can focus on since mom and dad's deaths. I miss them so much" Jeremy whispered and I pulled him into a tight hug, his tears wetting my neck and my own wetting his brown hair.

We stayed like that for a long time, crying and holding onto each other tightly.

_Elena fumbled with her keys as she reached her car and jumped when someone came up behind her. _

"_You scared me" Elena sighed, a hand on her chest as she took in the sight of Damon in front of her. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I'm hiding from Caroline" Damon whispered, as though it was a secret._

"_And why is that?" Elena asked curiously._

"_I needed a break" Damon admitted "She talks more than I can listen."_

"_that could be sign" Elena informed him._

"_Well, she's awfully young"_

"_Not much younger than you"_

"_I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she's drive me crazy" Damon told her._

"_Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but she's Effy's best friend and we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me" Elena glared._

"_Duly sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention" Damon apologised but Elena could hear the insincerity._

"_Yeas, it is." Elena snapped back "Otherwise you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say" Elena said, she had noticed her twin looking at Damon suspiciously when he came to dinner and decided to pay more attention, and she could definitely see that her twin was right to be suspicious. _

"_You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you" Damon told her._

"_Really?" Elena asked narrowing her eyes._

"_Mm-hmm. I see 'em. You want me" He told her._

"_Excuse me?" Elena asked in surprise, thinking she'd heard him wrong/_

"_I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. you thinking about me even when you don't want ot think about me. I bet you've even dreamed about me. and right now…you want to kiss me" Damon said, his pupils widening as he used compulsion._

_He leaned in slightly, but Elena slapped him across the cheek, catching him by surprise._

"_What the hell?" Elena cried "I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be a part of it. And don't you dare try to go after Effy, because I don't know what happened in the past, but lets get one thing straight…We are not Rosa and Katherine."_


	6. Family ties

Chapter four

_Family ties_

I woke up suddenly and looked about my room in confusion, wondering why I would get up in the middle of the night. Just as I lay back down to go to sleep I heard a noise downstairs. I got up cautiously and headed downstairs looking around for any sign of Elena.

I try to turn on the light to see better, but it doesn't work. I flip the switch a few more times but still nothing happens, the power is off.

I hear Elena scream from the kitchen and took off at a run. When I got there Elena was lying on the floor, her straight brown hair across the floor, the brown eyes, identical to my own wide and glassy and the tiled floor was turning red; he throat had been ripped out.

I screamed, sobbing over my sister. She couldn't be dead. She couldn't be dead; she was my twin, my other half. I needed her so much. I had saved her once, why hadn't I saved her again?

My head snapped up as I saw movement on the other side of the kitchen and my head snapped up in surprise, my curls sticking to my face because of the tears.

It was Damon. But he looked different, there were black veins under his eyes, which were now red, his mouth was open to reveal a set of fangs and blood was pouring down his chin. Elena's blood.

"You know what's coming next" Damon snarled.

I turn and run, run straight down the hallway, and to the front door, but it's locked. I slowly turn around, but none there. I take a step towards the stairs and turn around. I gasp; Damon is only centimetres away, I don't even have time to scream when he lunges and bites into my neck.

I lurch upwards in my bed, gasping. I look around my room and grip at my neck, but there is no wound. It was just a dream. I sighed and ran a hand through my brown curls and jumped slightly when I noticed a crow perched on the tree outside my window.

"Earlier today, the police discovered the bodies of two hikers in the woods, but luckily this time the animal was not far behind. It was the work of a mountain lion" the news reader, Logan Fell, said from the TV, as I sat next to Jenna on the settee "to repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught"

"Scum ball. Scum bucket" Jenna glared at Logan and I snorted in amusement.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked as she came into the room, perching herself on the arm of the settee next to me.

"Him" Jenna said, gesturing to the TV with the remote.

"The news guy?" Elena asked in amusement.

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked, not taking her glaring gaze off of the TV.

Elena and I shared an amuse look before she said "Oh, no way. You and him?" then added teasingly "he's kind of cute"

"He is not cute" Jenna snapped "There is nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?"

For the first time I notices that Elena had a box in her hand, with all of the Gilbert artefacts in it, such as journals and jewellery and other objects.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box, mom had told Mrs Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display" Elena told us.

I reached out and pulled out the small black box on the top. Opening it revealed a simple gold band with a diamond in the middle and an emerald on either side.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asked looking over my shoulder.

"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring" Elena replied, taking the ring off of me and putting it back in the box.

"How much do you reckon this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" Jeremy asked suddenly, making me jump as I hadn't even realised he had come into the room.

"You're not going to find out" Elena snapped, grabbing the journal Jeremy had picked up off of him and putting it in the box.

"That stuff is mom and dad's. You can't just give it away" Jeremy told her.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy" Elena sighed.

The doorbell rang, and Elena shoved the box into my arms so she could go to open it.

"Hi" I heard Stefan's voice say, before he quickly came into view when Elena grabbed him and they stated to kiss.

"Hi" Elena said when they pulled away and then pulling him up the stairs, probably to her bedroom.

"I did not need to see that" Jeremy groaned next to me and I nodded in agreement.

I entered the Grill with Bonnie and Caroline, looking at Caroline in disbelief. I can't belief she's taking a date to the founder's party, he mom Is going to be so annoyed with her.

"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie frowned.

"Go with Elena" Caroline shrugged as we sat down.

"She's probably going with Stefan" Bonnie said before turning to me "Right?" and I nodded in confirmation, she told me that she had asked him this morning, probably after their make out session.

"Ok, go with Effy" she said and they both turned to me.

I looked at them with wide eyes and shook my head.

"Come one, Effy, please?" Bonnie said giving me her best puppy dog look.

I shook my head again, glaring at Caroline for even suggesting it; there is no way I'm getting in a dress.

"Either you go with me or I will tell everyone that you suddenly decided you like being called Elizabeth and you wont be able to correct them" Bonnie smirked and I stared at her with wide eyes.

I can't believe she would do that to me. She know I hate being called Elizabeth, it makes me sound old, like the queen of England or something.

I pursed my lips and sighed before nodding, still glaring at Bonnie and Caroline.

"Great" Bonnie smiled before turning back to Caroline. "What about your mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline asked and I looked at her in surprise, that wasn't like her, she always hid her relationships because she didn't want her mom to freak.

"He's older sexy danger guy" Bonnie told her and I snorted in laughter.

"Older sexy danger guy? Is that an official witch twitter tweet?" Caroline asked amused.

"No more witch jokes, ok?" Bonnie asked pleadingly "The whole Mr Tanner prediction thing has me really freaked out. I can't believe those three numbers I had in my head were at the scene of his death, it can't just be a coincidence."

"Fine, no more witch joke" Caroline agreed "and Damon's not dangerous" she said and my mind went to that dream I had this morning and I shivered "you know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, major, deep-rooted drama"

"Like…?" Bonnie pressed.

"I'm not really supposed to say anything" Carline said and Bonnie and I shared surprised looks, Caroline was really starting to act different today.

"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie asked, clearly thinking the same as me.

"Ok. But you can't tell Elena" Caroline said, and I looked at her curiously.

"I won't, now tell" Bonnie said.

I waved goodbye and got up, not really wanting to hear something that had to be kept from my twin. I looked around the Grill and saw Vicky sitting on her own, a sad expression on her face.

I went over to her and gave her a questioning look, making her sigh.

"Tyler's parents were here with him, so of course he doesn't pay any attention to me what so ever until they leave. So I finally called him on the fact that he treats me like trash, because I'm actually sick of it" Vicky tells me and I raise my brows in surprise, this would be the first time she had actually called Tyler out on how he acts.

"So then he denied that he thinks I'm trash and I asked him about the founders party and he said that it would be less stupid and lame if I was there, which I guess is his way of asking me. I was actually surprised maybe he was finally going to tell his mom and dad about me" Vicky continue and I frowned, that didn't sound like Tyler at all, that was the one thing I sympathised about, the fact that he tried so hard to get his parent's approval, and I don't think he ever did.

"And then you stupid brother, no offence, had to come over and tell me what I already knew, that even if I go to this with him and dress nicely it won't change things between us and ugh…it's so annoying" she moaned.

I gave her a sympathetic look before pulling her into a hug.

I stood in front of Elena's mirror pinning my top layer of curls out of my face so that there was only one curl hanging down on each side. Elena had gone downstairs to answer the door, and Bonnie was looking through all the nail varnishes she, me and Elena owner, trying to narrow it down.

"Delicate flower vs. naughty vixen" Bonnie mused as Elena came back.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena asked.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date" Bonnie teased "you seem happy-ish"

"I am…ish. Tonight's going to be a good night" Elena said with a smile, before sitting at her dressing table to do her make-up.

I slipped off my clothes and swapped them for a silky midnight blue dress, that came to just above my knees and then pulled on my black converse.

"Converse, really?" Elena asked, looking at my outfit "I know that you're not quite back to how you once were, but does that mean you can't dress nice?"

I glared at her and she sighed "Fine, fine, but don't come to me when Mrs Lockwood doesn't stop glaring at you" and I bit my lip knowing she was right and she grinned triumphantly when a pulled on a pair of Elena's black flats instead.

After a few minutes of Bonnie and Elena silently dressing and doing their hair Elena snapped "Okay Bonnie, tell me whatever it is you've wanted to tell me as soon as you walked into the house, because your glances are starting to annoy me"

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night" Bonnie said, catching my attention and I shared a glance with Elena before we both sat down on the bed opposite her.

"Bonnie, out with it" Elena said and I nodded in agreement.

"Ok, but this has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story" Bonnie said.

"Uh-huh" Elena said warily.

"Do you know what happened with his Ex-girlfriends?" Bonnie asked and I looked at her curiously, if I knew she was going to get a back story off of Caroline I would have stayed to listen.

"I know that they both dated them and that's why they have issues" Elena stated.

"Yeah, they did, but it wasn't like that at first. Damon was with Katherine and Stefan was with Rosa, but Stefan wanted them both, so he did horrible things to break Damon and her up. he manipulated Katherine, until it finally worked and he turned her and Rosa against Damon" Bonnie explained and I looked at her sceptically, that didn't sound like Stefan at all.

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's" Elena said and I nodded. "Anyway his past relationships are none of my business"

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business" Bonnie disagreed.

"Stefan is none of those things" Elena said strongly.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie asked and Elena and I shared a glance.

"Bonnie, don't you look wonderful" Mrs Lockwood said as Bonnie and I approached the Lockwood mansion" and Elizabeth" she said and I resisted the urge to scowl at my name "I almost thought you were Elena, it's good to see you looking so…well…" she trailed off and I forced a smile.

Bonnie looked at me in amusement and went to open her mouth, but I shook my head at her before she could and grabbed a glass of Champaign off a waiter.

Elena, Stefan and I entered another room, showing all the different artefacts from the founding families.

"'The founding families in Mystic Falls Welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration' Wow, look it's the original registry" Elena pointed out to me and Stefan "look at all these familiar names – sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." Elena paused. "Is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?"

I looked at the registry in surprise, and sure enough their names were there.

"The original Salvatore brothers." Damon said suddenly entering the room, Caroline at his side "Our Ancestors. Tragic story, actually"

"We don't need to bore you with the past" Stefan said suddenly, and I got the feeling this might be another one of Damon's 'hidden meaning' times.

"It's not boring Stefan." Elena told her boyfriend "I'd love to hear more about your past"

"Well, I'm bored." Caroline said suddenly. "I want to dance. And Damon want dance with me"

"Mm-mmm" Damon said distractedly, looking around the room. I narrowed my eyes at him, I was starting to like him less and less with how he treated Caroline, and Elena told me about how he tried to kiss her the night Tanner died.

"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asked Elena.

"Oh, uh…" Elena looked at Stefan awkwardly.

"I don't really dance" Stefan stated.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all" Damon said, looking mockingly at Stefan.

"You wouldn't mind, would you Elena?" Caroline asked.

"It's up to Stefan" Elena said, looking at him.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer" she said, before grabbing Stefan's hand and pulling him out of the room.

After a few seconds of silence, Damon turned to Elena.

"I want to apologize to you for being such a world class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm…acting out, trying to punish Stefan"

"For what?" Elena asked and I looked at him curiously.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up" I narrowed my eyes at him again, he seemed to want to make Elena more interested, maybe he want quite done trying to punish Stefan. "Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers"

I stood to the side watching Elena talk to Damon, who seemed to only have eyes for her, I was starting to think he might fall for the same girl as his brother again.

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in the town. Until the war. There was a battle here-" Damon started.

"The Battle of Willow Creek" Elena put in.

"Right" Damon smiled.

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside"

"What the history book left out was the people inside that were killed" Damon said "they weren't there by accident. There were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church, someone they had also loved already having been killed. When they went to rescue the person in the church, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood"

"Who was in the church they wanted to save?" Elena asked curiously.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" he asked.

"Look," Elena started "I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just…I hope you two can work it out" Elena told him and then left.

"I hope so to" Damon whispered when she was gone, and I thought it had to be the only sincere thing I had ever heard him say.

I walked toward him silently and gipped his hand in mine comfortingly and he looked down at me in shock, clearly forgetting I was here. I gave him a sympathetic look, before turning to look at the other artefacts. While I may think Damon is out of line messing with Stefan's relationship, I realised then that it wasn't just Stefan who was hurt by their ex-girlfriend's deaths.

However, something wasn't sitting quite right with me. The story Damon told, it sounded all too familiar to what Elena told me he had said the night he and Caroline came to dinner. Two brothers loving two women who died, the tragic fire, and the true pain I saw in his eyes as he told the story.

I looked back at the registry and a few names away from Stefan and Damon Salvatore was Rosa Pierce and Katherine Pierce.

Something weird was going on here.

As soon as I saw those two names on the registry I had given Damon one last comforting look, trying to mask the suspicion I felt and gone to sit with Bonnie, who was sitting at a table in an empty room coming off of the ball room.

A candle in front of us goes out and Bonnie stares at it, when it suddenly re-ignites. Bonnie and I jumped and she blew it out quickly both of us sharing a shocked look, Bonnie's also panicked.

"Look around" Mrs Lockwood's voice said suddenly as she stopped at the doorway with a server, not noticing me and Bonnie in the room "What's missing? The flames, the candles. Why aren't they lit? there's matches in the kitchen" she snapped before she and the server left again.

"Bitch" Bonnie muttered and I nodded in agreement.

Bonnie sighed before looking determinately at the candle in front of us while I watched curiously. After a few seconds, it still hadn't lit and Bonnie scowled in frustration turning to leave. I was about to follow when I noticed all the candles become alight with a flame one by one. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

I grabbed Bonnie's arm to stop her leaving.

"What is-" Bonnie started, but stopped and looked around in shock at the candles.

She gave me a panicked look before rushing out of the room. I quickly followed after her, but I couldn't see her in the crowd of people and I sighed.

"Effy, have you seen Caroline?" Elena asked rushing up to me in a panic.

I shook my head giving her an alarmed look. What's wrong with Caroline?

"You know how Caroline has taken to wearing scarves lately?" Elena said hurriedly. I paused, ow that she mentioned it, she had, and she had never worn them before. I nodded. "We were in the bathroom and the scarf slipped and she's covered in bite marks and bruises. I'm pretty sure it was Damon" Elena explained.

I gritted my teeth in anger. To thing just a while before I comforted that son of bitch and the while he had been hurting my best friend.

I stormed off out of the mansion in search of Caroline. I searched around for a full ten minutes before I finally found Caroline in the garden at the side of the house, and she wasn't alone.

I began to march over, hearing Damon say "I'm so over you now"

I stopped in my tracks my eyes widening as I watched Damon's face shift into the form of the demon he was in my dream. Black veins appeared under his eyes and he bared his fangs and lurched forward to bite into Caroline's neck.

I stared in horror, before stepping forward to pull him off of my best friend, but stopped again when Damon pulled away, and began to cough, blood running down his chin.

"What the hell?" Damon choked out before falling to the ground next to Caroline.

"You know, I couldn't spike your dink…so I spiked hers" Stefan's voice came as he walked up to Damon.

My eyes narrowed angrily, he knew what was happening? I paused again. What was happening, what was Damon? The answer came quickly, a vampire. Was Stefan a vampire too? Was that why their names along with Rosa and Katherine Pierce were on the registry, was that actually them?

Stefan looked up suddenly and caught my eye, his eyes widening in shock. He shot me an apologetic look before he grabbed Damon and was gone in a matter of seconds.

I stood where I was for a second in shock, before I ran over to where Caroline was sitting, her knees pulled up to her chest. I pulled her into my arms as she began to shake and began to cry into my shoulder. I cried along with her. I cried for her, I cried for myself for what I had just figured out and I cried for my twin, whose boyfriend I was sure was a…vampire.


	7. you're undead to me

Chapter five

_You're undead to me. _

I woke up gasping and lurched upwards in my bad. My dreams were filled with vampires and blood and Damon and Stefan, just like they had been for the last month. I hadn't seen Stefan in all that time, but I knew I need too, I need him to explain. He seemed so good for Elena, and we had been around us for a while and he hasn't hurt us. I just needed him to explain.

With that thought in mind I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and hoody and grabbed the car keys, making my way to the Salvatore boarding house.

I stood in front of the door, trying to build up enough confidence to know on the door. Just as I lifted my fist to know, the door swung open to reveal Stefan. My breath quickened and I wasn't sure if it was nerves or fear.

"Effy" Stefan said and I gave him a pleading look, I just wanting him to explain.

He seemed to have read my mind, and I really hoped he didn't really do it, as he said "come in, I'll explain everything"

I sat down opposite him, looking around the huge parlour. There was a huge rug in the centre of the room with a coffee table on top of it and two settees. I set my gaze back on Stefan and eyed him warily.

"I'll start with the basics" Stefan said "almost everything people think of Vampires nowadays is a lie. Holy water, mirrors and crucifixes have no effect on us. An herb, called Vervain, burns us and makes us weak, it also makes humans immune to compulsion"

I looked down at the leather bracelet on my wrist and messed with the silver charm, remembering that Stefan had said that there was an herb in it.

I looked at him questioningly and he nodded.

"Vervain is in your bracelet and the necklace I gave to Elena, Damon was back in town and was killing people, that's where all the animal attack stories came from, so I wanted to protect you both from his compulsion" Stefan said. "There only ways to kill us is beheading, ripping our heart out, setting us on fire and staking us. We also burn on the sun"

I looked at him confused, Stefan walks out in the sun, and so does Damon as far as I know.

"We have day light rings, made by witches, they protect us from the sun" Stefan said, holding up his hand so I could see the lapis lazuli ring on his finger, with a silver S in the centre, I remembered seeing the same ring on Damon, but his had a letter D.

Then I froze remembering his words. Witches? I thought of Bonnie, how she was descended from Salem witches, and the 'feelings' she had been getting and what she did to the candles at the founder's party. Was she a witch? I supposed it wouldn't be much of a stretch since vampires existed.

"To turn into a vampire you have to die with their blood in your system and then feed on human blood to complete the transition, and if you don't, you die. Damon and I were turned by Rosa and Katherine Pierce in 1864, we were never sure which of them turned us both since they were always changing who they spent the night with" Stefan said.

My eyes widened at the year. He and Damon had been around such a long time, no wonder Stefan was so good at history. Damon had made it seem like Stefan was still torn up at Rosa and Katherine's deaths, but in reality it was a long time ago. At least I knew he wasn't just using my twin as a rebound.

"Damon and I, we were both born in Mystic falls, half a century before this building was even built" Stefan informed me gesturing to the boarding house "The Salvatore brothers, best friends"

**FLASHBACK**

_**Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864**_

**Stefan laughed as he threw the football to Damon and his older brother caught it easily.**

"**Where did you say you learned this game?" **

"**Camp outside Atlanta. One of the officers picked it up at Harvard." Damon told him "Catch" he threw the ball back to Stefan and he jumped to catch it. **

"**Wait a minute. Wait a minute." Stefan laughed "What are the rules? What are the rules?"**

**Damon and Stefan playfully struggle for the ball both trying to get the upper-hand and grab the ball. **

**Two identical twins, Rosa and Katherine Pierce, exited the Salvatore manor, both with chocolate brown hair that was pinned up in a bun, a few curls hanging down into their faces. Rosa dressed in a purpled dress with pink underskirts, while Katherine's was pink with purple underskirts. **

"**Who needs rules?" Rosa smirked. "Mind if we join you?"**

"**Uh, well, you could, uh – you could get hurt." Stefan stuttered "My brother likes to play rough"**

**Katherine walked up close to Stefan, Rosa right behind her, their skirts brushing against the floor.**

"**Somehow, I think that you play rougher" Katherine teased Stefan, before snatching the ball off of him and she and Rosa run off down the garden, laughing. **

"**Why are you standing there?" Damon asked Stefan with a smile "Those are two girls who clearly want to be chased." He paused and glanced in the direction the girls ran off to "If you don't do it, I will" Damon smirked and began to run off after them.**

**Stefan laughed, and began to run with his brother.**

"Rosa and Katherine weren't just any girls, they were seductive and manipulative, they played Damon and I against each other, they wanted us all to be together, but they didn't want to settle for just one of us, they both wanted us both" Stefan said, before continuing with the story.

**FLASHBACK**

_**Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864**_

**Katherine and Rosa laughed as they ran hand in hand from Stefan, their free hands holding up their skirts so they don't trip. **

"**Ha! We win!" Rosa exclaimed with a smile as she and her twin reached the statue in the garden.**

"**What's our prize?" Katherine smirked, looking at Stefan.**

"**What would you like it to be?" Another voice asked.**

**Stefan, Katherine and Rosa whirled around to see Damon leaning against the wall, clad in his green soldiers uniform.**

"**They extended your leave?" Stefan asked happily, a big smile on his face.**

"**I was having a little too much fun to return to battle" Damon smirked.**

"**Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring" Stefan teased, before walking over to hug his older brother.**

"**Well this works out wonderfully for us" Katherine said, sharing a smile with her twin.**

"**How's that, Miss Katherine?" Damon asked.**

"**Now we'll have both of you here to keep us entertained" Katherine smiled.**

"**First and foremost, we'll need someone to escort us to the founder's ball" Rosa added with a smile.**

"**With pleasure" Damon said at the same tame Stefan said "I would be honoured", both of them bowing. **

"**The smart and kind Salvatore brother's both coming to our rescue" Katherine smiled.**

"**However shall we choose?" Rosa smirked, before linking arms with her twin and walking away. **

"I escorted Katherine, while Damon took Rosa. Everything was fine at first, one Pierce twin for one Salvatore brother, but after all Rosa and Katherine couldn't choose, it wasn't long until I began spending time with Rosa and Damon with Katherine, always switching. We didn't care that sometimes we hurt each other" Stefan explained "but while I forgave him, Damon didn't forgive me and he doesn't get mad, he just gets even"

**FLASHBACK**

_**Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864**_

"**I will love you forever" Stefan told Rosa as he stroked her cheek, brushing a few curls from her face.**

"**Forever is a very long time, you know" Rosa told him as he kissed his way up her neck.**

"**Not long enough" Stefan whispers as he pulled back to looking into her brown eyes.**

**His eyes widened as black veins appeared below her eyes and she elongates her fangs. He barely has time to gasp before she lunges forward and bites into his neck. **

**The next morning Stefan woke up with an aching neck, his pillow red with blood. he glances to the left and see's Rosa and Katherine's handmaiden, Emily, tightening her bodice. **

"**Good morning" Rosa says, looking at Stefan in the mirror before turning to Emily "Clear the room, please"**

**Emily nodded and curtsied respectfully before leaving.**

**Rosa turns back to Stefan.**

"**You're upset" it wasn't a question.**

"**Your face, it was like a demon" Stefan muttered.**

"**But you're not afraid" Rosa told him.**

"**Get away from me." Stefan cried, moving in the bed to put more difference between her and him "Get away"**

**Rosa looks into his eyes, her pupils dilating as she compelled him "It doesn't change the way you feel about me and my sister. You will not tell anyone"**

"**I-" Stefan started.**

"**Shhh" Rosa hushed and continued with her compulsion "We will all go on exactly as we have"**

"**Yes" Stefan murmured, dazed from the compulsion "We will go on"**

**Rosa looked at Stefan and smiled brightly.**

"**You have no idea of the future we have planned for us, Stefan" Rosa told him "You, me, Katherine and Damon. No rules"**

"They could control our minds, they compelled each of us to not tell the other, so that each of us thought we had them both to ourselves. They wanted us all to be together. Forever. It didn't work out that way, but…Damon and I, looks like we're stuck together…like it or not" Stefan concluded.

I looked at him with sad brown eyes. I felt sorry for him, I even felt sorry for Damon, they had been played and manipulated into loving Rosa and Katherine, and then not only lose one of them, but both.

"I put vervain into Caroline's drink, so that Damon got it into his system. I only drink animal blood, while Damon feeds off humans, so I needed him weak. I've locked him in the basement. He won't be able to hurt anyone as long as he doesn't get any access to blood" Stefan told me and I nodded.

I looked down at the watch on my wrist before giving Stefan a small smile and standing.

"I'll understand if you don't want me near you or your sister, but I promise you I don't mean you or your friends and family any harm" Stefan told me.

I studied him closely before deciding he was being sincere and giving him a hug. He stiffened in surprise for a moment before relaxing and hugging me back.

When I got back home, Jenna was in the kitchen making pouring herself a bowl of cereal, when she noticed me she got out another bowl for me.

I smiled gratefully and grabbed a spoon for each of us before we both tucked into our breakfast.

"Jenna, Effy!" Elena exclaimed as she entered the kitchen "are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" She asked.

"Uh-huh" Jenna said and I nodded, the walls between mine and Jeremy's are thin, and I was unfortunate enough to keep waking from nightmares and hearing them.

"And neither of you have any objection?" Elena asked her brows raised.

I shook my head.

"He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak Vicky in and out" Jenna said rolling her eyes "Oh, and just so you two know, I won't be home for dinner"

I looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, so you're actually going to do it" Elena said, and I looked between the two of them in confusion "You're gonna go out with Logan" Elena finished and I looked a Jenna in surprise.

"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes" Jenna told us with a smirk "Elena, have you eard from Stefan?"

I bit my lip, feeling bad, although I supposed that even if I didn't know that Stefan didn't want me to tell anyone, it not like I would be able to speak up and tell Elena anyway.

"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago" Elena told us "'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do, I'll, uh, explain in a few days'" Elena continued in an imitation of Stefan so I had to press my lips together to stop from laughing, knowing it wasn't the time.

"Haven't you called him?" Jenna asked.

"Nope. Not going to either." Elena snapped.

Jenna and I shared a concerned look.

"And you're okay with everything?" Jenna asked.

"No, I'm not ok with any of it" Elena admitted "But I'm not going to cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those said pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy" Elena explained, before steal my spoon and eating a spoonful of cereal.

I shot her a concerned look, making her glare at me.

"I'll be fine" she told me around a mouthful of cereal.

I shared another glance with Jenna but she just shook her head, clearly thinking we should just let it go.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked down to see a text from Bonnie.

'**Come to Caroline's, I think she could probably use you after what happened with Damon'**

I gave Jenna a hug and kissed the top of Elena's head and quickly made my way to Caroline's house, which didn't take long since she only lived a street away.

"What happened, Care?" Bonnie asked as we both looked at Caroline concerned as we sat on her bed, watching her leaf through her closet.

"I remember the Party" Caroline told us frowning "Damon came up behind me, and he was kissing my neck" she paused "or biting my neck." She shook her head looking confused. "I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately. It's just weird." She paused again "Maybe I let him bite me" she mused.

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie asked in confusion.

Compulsion, I thought in my head. I resisted the urge to scowl, I may feel sorry for what happened in his past, but that didn't mean he had any right to what he did to Caroline. If Stefan hadn't have spike Caroline's drink with vervain, she would be dead right now.

"Can we just not talk about it, ok?" Caroline asked pleadingly "Don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal." Caroline said before looking at Bonnie in confusion "What are you doing with that candle?"

I glanced to my left to see that Bonnie was holding the purple candle from Caroline's bedside table and was staring at it determinately.

"Um…nothing" Bonnie answered, and I raised a sceptical brow, I could tell she was trying to light it like she did at the party, and after talking to Stefan I strongly suspected she was a witch, I was just wondering if she still didn't believe it, or she just didn't want to tell us.

I noticed an amber crystal on a bronze chain on her bedside table. I looked at it confusion. I knew Caroline's bedroom, closet and accessories like I knew my own, and I had never seen the crystal before.

"Damon gave it to me" Caroline told me "or he was going to give it to me. all I know is, it's mine now" Caroline smiled.

Bonnie took I out of my hands and looked at it closely.

"It's ugly" Bonnie said wrinkling her nose.

"Well, get your grubby hands off it" Caroline said, snatching it off of Bonnie and carefully hanging it on the wooden coat stand by the window.

"The Sexy suds car wash is tomorrow" Caroline said excitedly to Bonnie, Elena and I when we stopped by the lockers "the football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want, in your face sexy, I mean it's a fund raiser, for God's sake"

Caroline turned to me and said "that means you two Effy, no hoody, you are wearing a bikini whether you like it or not" before she flounced down the hallway.

"Unbelievable" Elena shook her head staring in the direction that Caroline left "it's like nothing happened"

"She's in denial" Bonnie said.

I nodded in agreement, even though I figured she was probably compelled, or she at least didn't want ot believe the truth.

"Hey" Stefan said as he stopped next to us.

"Hey." Bonnie said and I gave Stefan a smile "You know, Effy and have gotta go…urm…be somewhere right now" She added, before dragging me off to leave Elena and Stefan alone.

I was lying on my bed. It felt so weird knowing what actually happened with Caroline and Vicky and all the people who died in the last few months. It's not like I can't talk about it, but it's weird hearing people talk about animal attacks, and Caroline talking about liking Damon, because I knew she was compelled.

My door suddenly opened and I looked up to see Elena frowning. She collapsed down on the bed next to me and sighed, her straight brown curls, the exact same shade of chocolate brown.

"I don't know what to do" Elena said, sighing again.

I turned my head and gave her a questioning look.

"I tried" Elena said "I tried with Stefan. I wanted so much to make things right, but every instinct in my body is telling me to be careful" Elena said.

I nodded in understanding, knowing she was perfectly right to want to be careful, knowing what I do. I may trust Stefan but people can always make mistakes, and I have a feeling a vampire's mistakes could be disastrous.

"He's just got too many secrets and what you don't know can hurt you" Elena said. "Do you think I should give him another chance?" She asked, looking at me with wide brown eyes.

I paused for a second, before nodding. At one point Stefan made Elena smile for the first time in a long time and I feel that once Stefan finally told Elena the truth that it could be like that again.

"Thanks Eff, but I think I'm going to make him work for it, I really need him to open up to me" Elena told me, before getting up and leaving my room.

Elena and I walked through the parking lot, passing shirtless guys and girl in bikini's washing cars. I was wearing my usual jeans, converse and hoody, while Elena caved into Caroline's demands and war a bikini, even if it was underneath a pair of shorts and a tank top.

"What did I say to you Effy?" Caroline demanded as she came up to me and Elena "I said wear a bikini, so go put one on before I make you"

I pouted and made my best puppy dog look.

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "Fine." He ground out reluctantly "You're lucky you're my best friend"

She then gestured to the table where people pay.

"No friend discounts" She told Elena and me "No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here" I looked at her in confusion, I thought that was what we were doing "no were not" Caroline said firmly, noticing my expression.

"Hi" Stefan said coming up to Elena and I.

Elena and I gave him identical smiles and she said happily, "hey!"

"The event is called sexy suds, you know," Caroline told Elena and Stefan before stalking off.

"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked us.

I nodded, shooting him and Elena a grin.

"And judged" Elena added.

"Wow" Stefan said looking at where Caroline disappeared.

"I'm sorry" Elena said, not sounding sorry at all "But I guess you're going to take that off" she said gesturing to Stefan's shirt.

"I think you should go first" Stefan said slyly.

I looked away, feeling awkward being stuck in between my twin and her boyfriend's flirting, but having to stay at the area Caroline assigned to me.

"Ok" Elena said, and tried to take her top of by got tangled, making me laugh. "Effy, stop laughing. You're my twin you have to help me" Elena whined.

I rolled my eyes and helped Elena pull her top off, and then flatten her now static hair.

"Thanks" She said to gratefully and I just shrugged with a grin before she turned back to Stefan "Um – sorry, so not sexy."

"I disagree" Stefan said, leaning in and kissing her.

I sighed, and went to sit behind the table, accepting money of a woman who looked to be in her thirties and putting it in the box in front of me. Staying with my twin when she was flirting is one thing, but I did want to watch as they kissed.


	8. lost girls

Chapter six

_Lost girls_

"_What are you?" Elena demanded, glaring at Stefan with tearful eyes "What are you?"_

"_You know" Stefan stated._

"_No, I don't" Elena shook her head._

"_Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be here" Stefan told her. _

"_It's not possible. It can't be"_

"_Everything you know…and every belief that you have had is about to change. Are you ready for that?" Stefan asked._

"_What are you?" Elena repeated for the third time._

"_I'm a vampire"_

"_I shouldn't have come" Elena said, turning to leave._

"_No. Please." Stefan pleaded talking a step forward._

_Elena tries to run toward her car, desperate to leave. Run yelp as Stefan suddenly appeared in front of her and backed away fearfully. _

"_No. no" Elena said blinking, thinking it was a trick "How did you do that?"_

"_Please don't be afraid of me" Stefan begged grabbing her shoulders, his eyes filled with hurt._

"_Let me go" Elena cried, struggling against his grips._

"_No. Elena, there's things that you have to know and understand" Stefan pleaded/_

"_Let me go!" Elena Repeated more forcefully and pulled away from Stefan._

"_Elena, please" Stefan called as she ran away and got into her car and quickly driving way._

_As soon as she got home she ran into the house, locking the door behind her and running into her bedroom, slamming the door and sighing in relief, tears still streaming down her cheeks. _

_She turns around and lets out a startled yelp as she see's Stefan by her window._

"_Elena. I would never hurt you." Stefan told her "You're safe with me"_

"_All those animal attacks, those people who died-" Elena cried._

"_No" Stefan said forcefully "That was Damon!"_

"_Damon?" Elena asked._

"_Yes. I don't need to drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does! I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you, Elena, don't tell anyone" Stefan pleaded. _

"_How can you ask me that?" Elena asked shaking her head._

"_Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons. You can hate me, but I need you to trust me" Stefan said._

_Elena shook her head._

"_Then trust Effy" Stefan said desperately._

_Elena narrowed her eyes. "Effy knows?" She asked._

"_Yes, so please, just…just talk to her before you decide" Stefan begged._

_Elena her head again. "Just go." Elena pleaded "just go, please. Go. If you mean me no harm, then you'll go!"_

"_I never wanted this" Stefan muttered, before leaving out the window in a flash. _

I lay on my bed on my stomach, frowning as I tried to do my history homework. Maybe I should just wait until I can get Stefan to help me, after all he was there. It would be a lot easier than flipping through this text book.

My door suddenly flew open forcefully and I looked up in surprise to see Elena standing in my doorway. Her hair was a mess, no doubt she had been running her hand through it and her cheeks were tearstained and pink.

"You knew?!" She demanded, marching into my room and slamming my bedroom door behind her.

My eyes furrowed in confusion and I sat up, closing my text book.

"You knew about Stefan?" She asked, gasping as more tears escaped her eyes.

My eyes widened in surprise that she knew, and judging by how she was acting, I'm guessing it didn't go well. I pressed my lips together guiltily and nodded.

"You know he was a vampire and you still convinced me to give him another chance?" She demanded.

I bit my bet and nodded again.

She glared at me angrily and I avoiding her gaze not liking when Elena was made at me, she was my other half, it was like having yourself hating you.

She sighed and sat down on the bed next to me and buried her head in my shoulder.

"Why would this happen to me? He was supposed to be the good thing in my life" she coked out and hugged her comfortingly, blinking back my own tears as I tried to comfort her, holding onto her tight and running my fingers through her hair.

That's how we sat for about half an hour, me comforting my twin until we both drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, it was to an empty room. I sighed and looked to the empty space on my bed where Elena had been sleeping. There was a note.

_Effy,_

_I've going to let Stefan explain everything, I don't know when I'll be back_

_Elena xx_

I folding the note and put it on my bedside table and let my lips turn up into a small smile, happy that my sister was letting Stefan to explain. I hoped that once she listened to Stefan's story she would forgive him and they could go back to how they were before.

My phone buzzed on my bed, it was a text from Vicky.

'**I'm at the boarding house, can you come hang out?' **

My eyes furrowed in confusion, Stefan was with Elena explaining everything, so why would Vicky be…my eyes widened in horror. Damon.

I quickly grabbed my keys and rushed to the car. There was no way I was letting Vicky stay with Damon alone. I dove to the Boarding house as quick as I could, thankful for how small the town was because I could get there quickly.

I didn't bother knocking and just stormed in.

Music was blaring and I could see Vicky dancing in the middle of the room. Sadly, she wasn't alone, she was with Damon. And they were close.

My eyes narrowed angrily, she was finally with my brother and she was with Damon? If I didn't know there was a chance she was compelled, I would be so angry at her right now.

I let the door slam behind me and raised my brows at Vicky when I caught their attention.

Damon looked at me in surprise for a second before he smirked and I scowled at him.

"EFFY!" Vicky shouted happily bounding over and hugging me happily. "You came"

I frowned and pulled away putting a hand on either side of her face and looking closely. Her blue eyes were slightly glazed over and she had a lazy smile on her face.

I sighed. She was drunk. I could only handle drunk Vicky when I could talk to her to calm her down, or I was drunk to and there's no way I could get drunk when she was with Damon.

I glared at Damon angrily and he just smirked again.

"Hello Effy" Damon drawled "It's good to see you again"

I scowled at Damon before grabbing Vicky's hand and dragging her to the door.

"No I don't want to leave" Vicky said pulling away.

I looked at her in surprise, before sticking out my bottom lip and fluttering my eyelashes, giving her my best puppy dog look.

Vicky rolled her eyes. "That hasn't worked on me since I was fifteen and you were fourteen. You know that"

I sighed and Vicky grinned dancing around the room again.

I flopped down on the chair the parlour, watching Vicky dance around, just to make sure Damon doesn't try anything.

Damon began to dance with her before turning to me. "Come one Effy, you know you want to join" Damon said, smirking seductively.

I glared and picked up a vase to throw at him, but he caught and put it back in a matter of seconds. I rolled my eyes and grabbed 'Gone with the Wild' off of the coffee table and began to read it.

"I am so over Tyler, so over him" Vicky said as she lay on the floor. "I knew from the beginning I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But now, Jeremy, on the other hand. That's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that"

I smiled at Vicky over my book, happy that, even though she was intoxicated, she was finally seeing things straight.

"Jeremy, huh?" Damon asked "Elena and Effy's brother?" he glanced in my direction.

"Yeah. Yeah. So, Elena used to date my brother so i started hanging around Effy more. Effy's like my best friend she never judged me" Vicky rambled and I grinned when she said I was her best friend "so Jeremy was always hanging around us and crushing on me and – hey why don't you have a girlfriend? You're like totally cool and so hot. Right, Effy? He's like a ten right?"

"I'm like a ten right, Effy?" Damon smirked in my direction and I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't you wanna be in love?" Vicky asked.

And I raised my brows at Damon mockingly, causing him to glare.

"I've been in love" he told Vicky "It's painful and pointless and overrated"

"Except when it isn't" Vicky replied and I grinned when Damon's smirk finally vanished.

"No more talking. Let's dance" Damon ordered and turned the music up on the stereo before starting to dance with Stefan before I could even blink.

"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia beach with Pete. He drives trucks. I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering" Vicky told Damon as they grinded against each other.

"Your life is so pathetic" Damon told her and I narrowed my eyes at him over the book.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, with Aunt Effy visiting every weekend, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank" Vicky explained and I looked at her sadly, I never knew she felt that way about Matt and her future.

"You are so damaged" Damon stated.

"Yep" Vicky said offhandedly.

I put the book down and stood up, crossing my arm, wondering what Damon was up to.

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem" Damon continued.

"Nope, none" Vicky stated and I gave her a sympathetic look, not like how she thought of herself, I knew what it felt like to hate yourself, hell that's part of the reason why I don't talk.

"I think I know what can help you" Damon said, and I started to walk forward, knowing he was up to something.

"So what's that?" Vicky asked curiously.

"Death" Damon said shortly and he snapped her neck.

I stared at her in horror, not moving, not looking at anything other than her, I couldn't even tell if I was breathing.

"Relax" Damon said rolling his eyes "I fed her my blood, she'll come back"

I glared at him, gritting my teeth. I had never hated someone as much as I hated him in my life, I always saw redeemable qualities in people, but for the first time in my life, I actually gave up one someone. I hated him.

I raised my fist to punch him, but he grabbed it before I could hit him and glared at me.

"Tsk, tsk…hasn't anyone ever told you violence isn't the answer?" Damon teased, and my glare intensified.

I was about to try and hit him again, but a groan distracted me.

"What happened?" Vicky moaned, sitting up and rubbing her neck "We were dancing, and then-"

"Then I killed you" Damon interrupted.

"What?" Vicky asked in confusion.

"You're dead" Damon said shortly.

"I'm dead?" Vicky asked in disbelief, trying to catch my eye, but I looked away.

"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it. You drank my blood, I killed you and now you have to feed in order to complete the process" Damon said as though it were obvious.

"You're wasted" Vicky said shaking her head, pushing past him.

"You don't wanna be out there all alone. You're about to get all really freaky" Damon said blocking her path.

"Ok, I had a really good time, I just wanna go home" Vicky whined.

"You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful"

"Come on, move" Vicky said impatiently, trying to push him.

"See?" Damon said "You're already starting to fall apart.

"And I'm going home now; Effy can you take me home?" Vicky asked.

I glanced at Damon before nodding, wanting to get as far away from him as possible.

"Ugh the sun is killing me. My eyes are on fire" Vicky moaned as we entered my house.

"Effy what-" Jeremy started getting up from the settee and not bothering to turning of the TV "Vicky? Where have you two been?"

"It's good, everything's good" Vicky sighed, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Did something happen?" Jeremy asked looking from Vicky then to me and I just shrugged.

"I'm hungry" Vicky said suddenly straightening up and heading to the kitchen "What do you got to eat?" she asked opening the fridge.

"is she high?" Jeremy asked me "It's the middle of the day"

"Could you just not talk so loud? My head, it hurts. I need quiet." Vicky moaned, rubbing her temples.

Jeremy shot me a glance and just shook my head, not knowing what else to do.

"I'll just…I'll just go call Matt" Jeremy said sending Vicky a concerned look.

"Where is she?" I heard Matt say as I sat on the settee with Vicky in a one armed hug.

"Come this way" Jeremy's voice sounded and a second later he and Matt were in front of us.

"What's she on?" Matt asked crouching in front of Vicky and looking at her with a concerned, brotherly look.

"I—I don't know…Effy?" Jeremy said and I shook my head.

"Hey, Vick" Matt said softly "How you doin'?"

"Not good, Mattie. I hurt" Vicky moaned, snuggling further into my side.

"Ok" Matt said and I could tell he was fighting to stay calm. "Where's it hurt?"

"My gums" Vicky groaned "Mr jaw hurts. My gum – there's something in my gum, and it hurts" I could feel my neck getting wet as a tear escaped her eyes and I rubbed her back comfortingly. I knew what she was feeling. She was feeling the fangs wanting to come through. But that wouldn't happen until she fed.

"Ok, well-" Matt started.

"No" Vicky snapped "Just leave me alone" she hid her face in my hair and I held her tighter.

I shared a concerned look with Matt and Jeremy.

"Come on, Vick. Don't be like that. Let's get you home" Matt said softly.

"Just turn it off!" Vicky shouted suddenly, making me jump.

"Turn what off?" Jeremy asked confused.

Vicky pulled away from me just enough to glare at Jeremy and Matt. "The talking, the chatter, just turn it off" She snapped.

"—horribly. 3 bodies were found dead in what is believe to be a drug deal gone awry. The bodies have yet to be identified. They were discovered earlier today at the Mystic Falls cemetery" the news man sounded from the TV.

"That's where we were last night" Jeremy said slowly turning from the TV and back to Vicky, the concern even more prominent.

"What happened, Vick?" Matt demanded.

"…homicide, and are fast under way looking for suspects. They're asking anyone with information…" the man on the TV spoke again.

"I'm calling the cops" Matt said shaking his head.

"No. Don't" Vicky said suddenly.

"What happened after I left last night, Vick?" Jeremy asked desperately.

Vicky pulled away from me suddenly and shoved Jeremy into the coffee table.

"Jer, are you ok?" Matt asked while we helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" Jeremy said straightening up.

"Damn, Vick" Matt moaned.

"What's going on?" Elena's voice came suddenly as she entered with Stefan.

"She's really messed up," Matt said shaking his head.

I gave Stefan a meaningful look behind their back and dragged my finger across my throat in a 'dead' signal.

"Elena, Effy back up. Vicki, look at me. Focus" Stefan said, putting a hand on either side of her face and looking into her eyes before pulling away. "You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine. Guy's, take her up to bed, shut the blinds. She's gonna be ok. Come on. Come on"

Matt and Jeremy shared a glance before leading Vicky upstairs.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asked me and I nodded.

"Well what is it?" She asked, looking between me and Stefan.

"She's transitioning" Stefan answered.

"Transition to what?" Elena asked slowly.

Stefan and I shared a glance before he said "A vampire"

"What?" Elena gasped.

"Did Stefan get to her?" Stefan asked me and I nodded again" She's new" He told Elena and I "She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"H-how does she do that?" Elena stuttered.

"She has to drink human blood" he sighed.

"And what if she doesn't?" my twin asked cautiously.

"She'll die." Stefan told us "she may only have a few hours"

I felt tears filly my eyes and I had to try hard to blink them back and swallow the lump that formed in my throat. I couldn't lode another person. I just couldn't.

"She's upstairs with Jeremy and Matt right now" Elena said worriedly.

"It's ok" Stefan told her "she doesn't know what's happening to her yet"

"So when is she gonna know?" Elena asked.

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make a choice" Stefan explained.

"The same choice you made?" Elena asked and Stefan sighed.

Suddenly Vicky came running down the stairs and before we knew it she was out the front door, Matt calling after her.

I gave Jeremy a questioning look.

"She was fine, and then she just—she just freaked out" Jeremy explained to me.

"I'm goanna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything" Matt told us before leaving.

"I can track her" Stefan said to Elena and I quietly.

"Go" Elena said and I nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should check in with Matt" Jeremy said worriedly.

"He'll call when he finds her" Elena sighed.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy demanded.

"WE wait" Elena told him "We're supposed to wait"

Jeremy and I shared an annoyed look, not really wanting to sit around and wait while our friend is out there, even though I knew Stefan would be the best bet to find her, I still felt pretty useless doing nothing.

"I don't know what's wrong with her" Jeremy sighed, letting this head fall onto my shoulder and inhaling, probably noticing I smelt like Vicky.

"She'll be fine. It'll all be fine" Elena insisted.

The doorbell rings and Jeremy and I follow Elena when she goes to answer it. When she pulls open the door I get a quick glimpse of Damon before she tries to push it closed, but Damon was too strong and pushed it open again.

"Jeremy, go upstairs" Elena ordered, he shoots me a confused look, but does as he's told.

"You're afraid of me" Damon stated, looking at Elena "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Stefan finally fessed up: I know Effy didn't tell you"

"Stay away from us" Elena snapped, backing away to stand at my side.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude." Damon said mockingly "I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited. We can cut the chase it you want. I'm not gonna kill you both right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda." Damon smirked. "So…where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicky" Elena stated and I glared angrily.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes" Damon told me, which only made me glare more "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her"

"Did you thank Rosa and Katherine?" Elena asked coldly.

"Mmm. Got the whole life story, huh?" Damon mused.

"We got enough" Elena snapped and I nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I doubt that" Damon said "Tell my brother I'm looking for him. oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house" he added before leaving.

Elena and I sat on the porch and I looked up and down the street, impatiently waiting for Stefan, my legs juggling impatiently, Elena running her fingers through my curls trying to comfort her.

When Stefan finally arrived Elena and I quickly jumped to our feet.

I narrowed my eyes at Stefan's top, noticing that it was red with blood.

"You're bleeding" Elena stated, concerned.

"No, it's ok. It's ok. I'm okay" Stefan Rambled and I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. He looked at me with sad eyes and said "I couldn't stop her. I tried"

I sighed.

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"She fed and then I lost her" Stefan said.

"Oh, my god" Elena groaned.

I closed my eyes trying to stop from freaking out; I felt so much sympathy towards my friend. I wasn't sure how to feel, on one hand I'm so unbelievably please that she'd die for good, but on the other hadn't, she's a vampire and she would have to learn control, but she's a drug addict, and I could only assume that blood is like a drug for a vampire, which makes it so much worse.

"I'll take care of it" Stefan told us "I'll find her" Stefan said and I had to remind myself that I didn't glare at him, reminding myself that he was helping, rather than being annoyed that the last time he said that she completed the transition and ran off. "I will find her and I will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she doesn't hurt anybody, Elena, Effy, I promise you that"

"What do I tell my brother and – Matt?" Elena asked.

"We'll come up with a story" Stefan said comfortingly.

"You mean we'll come with a lie" Elena corrected.

"I'm so sorry, Elena, you two Effy I know you and Vicky are close" Stefan said sadly.

"I gave you today just like you asked. And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but…I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry. I-I just can't…" She trailed off going back into the house and I followed quickly.

Elena and I stared at each other for a few seconds, both of us with tears in our eyes before we both jumped forward and pulled each other into a tight hug. My tears that I had been holding back all day finally spilled over and Elena and I both slide to the floor, holding on to each other as we cried.


	9. Haunted

Chapter seven

_Haunted_

"Have you heard anything from Vicky?" Jeremy asked as soon as he came into bedroom, sitting down on my bed.

I looked at him in my mirror as I brushed my head and shook my head.

Jeremy sighed. "I wish I knew what was going on with her or at least what drug she was on"

I nodded absently as I swapped my pyjama shorts for jeans, not sure what else to do. I felt bad for Jeremy; even though I hated that I had to deal with all the worry of knowing what was going on with Vicky, I think it was even worse for him he has no idea what's going on with her.

"I don't know why she ran off" Jeremy told me as I pulled on my hoody "we could have helped her if she had stayed, I'd love to know what was running through her head." Jeremy paused "Do you reckon it was something I did? I mean she was fine until…"

I shook my head firmly in reply and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Effy, I just got a-" Elena started as she burst into my room, but she stopped when she saw Jeremy "sorry"

"Oh, no, it's cool, we're done" Jeremy said, standing up.

"You're up early, where are you going?" Elena asked, sitting down at my dressing table.

"Police station. They're organizing the search party for Vicky, so…" Jeremy said, about to leave my room.

Elena and I shared a glance.

"Wait" Elena said, grabbing his arm to stop him "Shouldn't you be going to school?"

"What?" Jeremy said to Elena disbelievingly before turning to me "She's kidding me, right?"

I just shrugged, frowning apologetically.

"You shouldn't skip school. If they find her, we'll know." Elena told him "That's what cell phones are for"

I winced knowing that wasn't going to down well, it certainly wouldn't with me if I was in Jeremy's position.

To prove my thoughts Jeremy glared.

"Yeah, your lips keep moving. I don't know why" He snapped before leaving.

Elena sighed and slumped down in the chair when the front door slammed a few seconds later.

A few minutes after Jeremy left, Elena told me the reason she had come to my bedroom. He and Damon had found Vicky and she was currently staying at the boarding house so they could help her get a handle on her blood lust.

I rolled my eyes as Elena marched up to the boarding house door, me behind her; she was doing her 'I'm on a mission' walk again, and she pounding on the door.

I sighed in annoyance when it was Damon who answered the door, and of course his lips turned up into a smirk when he saw us.

"Is Stefan here?" Elena demanded, and I fought the urge to laugh at the fact she just completely ignored Damon.

"Yep!" Damon said brightly.

I raised my brow waiting for him to elaborate, but of course being the annoying jackass he is, he didn't.

"Where is he?" Elena asked in annoyance.

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'" Damon said mockingly and I scowled at the fact that the only person I actually hate seemed to think in a similar way as I did.

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" Elena demanded, the glare on her face seeming out of place in her usual happy brown eyes.

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon asked "I'm surprised you came at all, after all, last time you were here I killed your friend"

I glared furiously, gritting my teeth, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to try and hit him, at least not again.

"If you wanted us dead, we'd be dead" Elena snapped, regaining Damon's attention.

"Yes, you would" Damon stated, taking care to meet both mine and my twins eyes.

"But we're not" Elena retorted.

"Yet"

"Where is Stefan?" Elena demanded again.

"He's upstairs singing 'the rain in Spain'" Damon said, opening the door wider "Knock yourself out" he added, before leaving.

I rolled my eyes at his people skills and shut the door behind me.

"Stefan? Stefan?" Elena called to the empty parlour.

"Yes" Stefan said, suddenly in front of us and we both jumped.

"Where's Vicky?" Elena asked.

"She's upstairs" he told us.

"What happens now? Because our brother is out there searching for her with the rest of town. What am I supposed to tell him?"

"I'm working with her, but it's going to take time" Stefan explained "She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this"

"So, she's a vampire with issues?" Elena snapped and I elbowed her in the side with a glare making her mutter an apology before turning back to Stefan "What am I supposed to do? Because I'm lying to everyone, other than Effy, that I care about." Elena paused before nodding towards the stairs "What's going to happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe" Stefan said, but I had a feeling he was saying it more to me that Elena, knowing I was closer to her, and for that I was grateful.

"How long is that?" Vicky's voice asked suddenly and my head snapped to the left to see her coming down the stairs.

"We can talk about it later" Stefan told her before leaving the room.

"Hey Effy" Vicky said brightly giving me a hug and I had to push her away slightly as her grip was constricting my lungs. "Sorry haven't gotten a hang of the strength thing yet" she laughed.

"Hey, Vicky, how are you?" Elena said kindly.

"How am I?" Vicky asked my twin in disbelief, before turning to me "She's kidding right?"

I gave her a shrug in reply, not know what else to do.

"Coffee is our friend" Stefan said coming back in the room and handing Vicky a mug of coffee "It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch"

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicky asked and I forced myself not to cringe, not liking that sentence coming out of my friends mouth, this should never have happened to her.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at a time" Stefan told Vicky firmly.

"Oh god! Don't start with that whole 12 step thing." Vicky rolled her eyes. "School counsellor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me"

Stefan glanced at me and I shrugged apologetically. Vicky was telling the truth, when the counsellor did try it, she had failed after step four.

"It can work" Stefan said fixing his gaze on Vicky "It's your choice, Vicky"

"So, you've never tasted human blood?" Vicky asked taking a gulp of coffee.

"Not in a long time" Stefan said evasively, I fixed him with a curious look but he ignored my gaze, making me share a look with my twin.

"How long?" Vicky pressed.

"Years and years" Stefan said "I'm not proud of my past behaviour"

Vicky slammed her mug on the table making me jump.

"Does this sketchy feeling ever go away?" She groaned "It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood" Vicky said standing up before pausing "Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead"

I snorted in laughter as Vicky left.

"I'm going to, uh…I'm gonna get her some more. All right. I'll be quick" Stefan told Elena and I before leaving the room.

"False alarm" Vicky announced coming back down the stairs "My bodies feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." Vicky continued, pulling out her phone.

"Hmm, who are you calling"? Elena asked her cautiously, she had never been that good at interacting with Vicky.

"Jeremy" Vicky stated, punching more numbers into her phone.

I shared a concerned look with Elena.

"Vicky, you can't see Jeremy anymore" Elena stated and I winced, that was not a good way to tell her.

"Oh come on don't you start" Vicky rolled her eyes "I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see"

"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena asked in an annoyed tone and I could certainly see where she was coming from, Vicky may be my friend, but if she hurt my brother, well I would make sure she would pay.

"I would never hurt Jeremy" Vicky said slowly, glaring at my twin.

"I know you think that" Elena said carefully "but I can't take that risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now"

"Oh really?" Vicky sneered, putting me on edge, as I knew how temperamental Vicky was and I could only guess it was worse as a Vampire. "And how long have you been preparing the 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing"

"All I'm saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki" Elena warned.

"Or what?" Vicky hissed.

I gasped in surprise and stood stock still as Vicky grabbed my twin by the neck and pushed her against the wall, not letting her feet touch the ground.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch" Vicky snarled "You had my brother whipped for 15 years. 15 years then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy , because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. You got it?"

In a matter of seconds Vicky released her grip on Elena, letting her fall to the ground and was heading back up the stairs. I quickly rushed over to my twin and helped her to her feet as she began to cough and rub her sore neck.

"She threatened me" Elena told me in disbelief.

"She's on edge" Stefan's voice answered and we turned around to see him coming back into the parlour "Imagine every sense in your body operating at supers peed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. and then when you throw in her other issues…"

"How long until it settles?" Elena asked, throwing her arms up in exasperation "hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book"

"Well, how long until you learned to control it?"

"A while" Stefan admitted "but I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people especially when you're new; it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire…it can all blur into one urge, hunger"

"What does that mean?" Elena questioned anxiously.

"It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him" Stefan explained.

"Or worse" Elena added and I nodded in agreement.

"I'm not going to let anybody hurt" Stefan said firmly, looking from Elena to me and back again.

Elena looked as though she was about to say something stopped and said "I need to get going" instead.

"Elena…" Stefan started to protest.

"Please Stefan. There's only so much I can take" Elena pleaded, before turning to leave.

I gave Stefan sympathetic look and pulled him into a hug. Stefan wrapped his hands around me and rest his chin on the top of my head.

"I'm trying…I just…I don't know how to make it better" Stefan admitted to me and I just hugged him tight not sure what else to do.

I pulled away from Stefan and turned as Damon entered the room, pulling Vicky behind him.

"Where are we going?" Vicky asked and judging from the eager tone to her voice it wasn't somewhere in the house.

"Your life was pathetic" Damon said and smirked at me when I glared "your afterlife doesn't have to be"

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, putting his arm out to stop Damon from getting any closer to the door.

"She's been cooped up in your rom all day. She's not Anne Frank" Damon snapped at him brother.

"No no" Stefan said before rest his green gaze on Vicky "Hey hey…now's not the time for tis"

"If you're gonna teach her. Teach her. Show her what it's all about" Damon told Stefan his usual smirk on his face.

"She could hurt someone" Stefan glared at his older brother.

"I'm not taking her to Disneyland. We're going to the front yard." Damon said exasperated.

I stepped into Damon's path to stop him at the same time Stefan said "Bad idea Damon"

"She's a vampire Stefan" Damon said, glancing at me "she should know the perks"

"Like what?" Vicky asked eagerly.

"Like…" Damon started and I jumped as I felt his hands on my sides and a second later I was on the couch and glaring at Damon as he smirked over me.

"Whoa" Vicky laughed "How did you do that?"

"Come on Vicky, live a little" Damn smirked yet again and added "no pun intended" making me roll my eyes as I got up off of the couch.

One moment I was looking at Vicky waiting for her reply and the next moment I felt a gust of wind as she vanished in a blur, the door slamming behind her.

I looked open mouthed at Damon, I don't think I had ever glared as much in my live as I did when I was in the room with him.

"Uh…my bad" Was Damon's only reply, making me scream in frustration.

"Effy, Effy it will be okay, we'll just…you and I will go to Matt's that's where she would probably go right?" Stefan said, putting his hand on my shoulders.

I nodded, and with one last glare in Damon's direction, I left with Stefan.

It only took a few moments after I rung the Donovan's doorbell for Matt to answer it.

"Effy, Stefan, what are you two doing here?" Matt asked in confusion.

"Is Vicky home?" Stefan asked hastily.

"Yeah" Matt said slowly.

"Can we see her please?" Stefan pleaded.

"Don't let them in" Vicky's voice came suddenly "I don't want them here"

"Did they do something to you?" Matt asked, turning to look at something, Vicky I supposed.

"No, I just don't want them here" I heard Vicky answer.

"Just let us come in so I can explain myself" Stefan said, pushing against the doorframe and I supposed the barrier stopping him from entering.

"Look, I don't know what's going on" Matt started looking from Stefan to me and back again "but I think you two should leave now"

"Matt…" Stefan started

"Please, now" Matt said, before closing the door in our face.

I shared a defeated look with Stefan. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do now, Vicky may be my friend but I wasn't going to kid myself into thinking she wasn't dangerous. Vicky was impulsive, had anger issues, drug issues and so many other issues, she was dangerous as a human and I knew she was going to be murderous as a vampire.

I had come to the haunted house with Jeremy, neither of us bothering to bothering to dress up. I would have come with Bonnie and Caroline, but I knew my best friend would give me grief about not wearing an outfit and I couldn't deal with that right now, not while I was keeping an eye out for Vicky, almost expecting her to walk through the gym with bloody fangs bared and dead bodies in toe.

"Drink?" Jeremy suggested and I nodded.

He led the way towards the stall Tyler Lockwood was manning dressed in a brown werewolves costume. Jeremy scowled at him the whole time Tyler handed us a drink while I mentally told myself not to have many as the last time I had had the Lockwood brewed beer Caroline and I had gone skinny dipping and woke up starkers in the forest.

I locked eyes with Stefan across the gym and gave him a questioning look and he slowly shook his head. I sighed taking it to mean he hasn't found Vicky yet.

I turned around and my brows furrowed in confusion, noticing that Jeremy was no longer at my side. I turned looking through the throng of people and couldn't catch a sight of him. I was so caught up in looking for Jeremy that I jumped about a mile when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

It was a text from Jeremy.

'**Sorry for ditching you, I've gone meet Vicky by the buses'**

I bit my lips in worry as I stared at the text. I looked around frantically, hoping Jeremy hadn't made his way out of the gym yet. I didn't spot Jeremy, but I saw Elena, dressed in the nurse's outfit from last year, by the door and quickly rushed over.

"Effy, what is it? Have you seen Vicky? Has she done anything?" Elena questioned hurriedly, clearly noticing my panicked expression.

I shoved my phone at Elena and she took it confused, but her eyes widened as she looked at the message, and bit her lip like I had done only a few seconds before.

"Jeremy" she muttered.

We both shared an alarmed look before running toward the back exit, where the parking lot that the buses were parked in was.

Elena and I both stopped in surprise and horror as we saw Vicky biting viciously into Jeremy's neck, his blood running down the front of her vampire costume. If it was any other situation I would have laughed at the irony of the costume, but right now I couldn't pull my thoughts away from the fact that my little brother was yelling in pain.

Elena and I rushed over at the same time, Elena hitting Vicky on the back with a wooden plank she had found on the floor, while I gripped Vicky red hair and pulled in an effort to get her teeth away from Jeremy's neck.

She whirled around, eyes flashing angrily with the black veins twisting underneath and she snarled, my baby brother's blood on her lips and chin and she though me into a pile of discarded building supplies a few feet away. I groaned, slowly pulling myself to my feet and gripping my side, which began to hurt like hell.

Vicky turned on Elena, but Stefan came just in time and pushed Vicky up against an adjacent bus by her neck.

Jeremy stumbled over to me, with wide, fear filled eyes as he held onto his neck, blood seeping through his fingers, and I pulled him close to me.

"Vicky!" Jeremy shouted as she began to struggle against Stefan, his voice filled with worry, fear, hurt and disbelief.

However his shout didn't distract Vicky, it distracted Stefan, and she vanished in a blur.

"Go. Get inside. Go!" Stefan ordered Elena and continued to search for Vicky in between the buses.

Elena rushed over on and gripped Jeremy's other arm and began to pull us towards the door.

I yelped in shock as Jeremy and I were pushed to the floor before screaming as I watched Vicky bite into my twin's neck, whose brown eyes were filled with pain as she struggled against Vicky's grip. Stefan came up behind Vicky and my eyes widened when I realised what was in his hand. It was a stake.

Stefan plunged the stake into Vicky's back, and I watched in horror as the veins beneath her eyes vanished and her fangs retracted. Her blue eyes found mine, they were filled with tears and pain and betrayal. Black veins erupted across her skin, which had now turned grey, as she fell to the floor, dead.

I made a choking noise in the back of my throat and tears fell relentless down my cheeks. It felt as though someone had just punched a hole through my chest. Vicky was now dead, dead completely, never coming back dead, and it tore through me like a knife. Sobs began to rack my body as I clung to my brother, who was still crying Vicky's name.

I didn't notice much after that, too filled with grief as I sobbed to notice anything, but somehow I had ended up in Jeremy bed with him, both of us with our knees bought up to our chest as we cried.

"Why does have to die on us?" Jeremy choked out, making me cry harder, and we both moved to grip onto each other with dear life.

I only looked up from crying into Jeremy's brown hair when Elena sat on the bed in front of us.

"Do you understand what happened tonight?" Elena asked, her sad eyes trained on Jeremy.

"No. I don't understand" Jeremy cried "I mean, I know what I saw, but…I don't understand"

"She was going to kill me" Elena said calmly, and I hated her in that moment. Hated how she could be so calm about my friend's death, be so stable as I sobbed alongside my little brother.

"Now she's dead. Vicky's dead" Jeremy said and I let out a dry sob, clutching at my chest, I felt as though I could put my hand into my chest and tear the pain out of myself.

"I'm so sorry" Elena told the both of us, pulling us both into a tight hug and I cried into my twins shoulder.

"Make it stop. It hurts" Jeremy sobbed, and I managed a nod of agreement against Elena's shoulder as I continued to cry, her straight hair was sticking to my wet cheeks, but I didn't care. Vicky was dead. And this time she wasn't coming back. She never was.

"_Are you okay?" Elena asked Stefan as she stepped onto the porch._

"_I, uh…I wanted to help her. but instead, uh…how're they doing?" Stefan stuttered guiltily._

"_They're a mess. I don't want them going through this again. Jeremy's just a kid" Elena said sadly._

"_Elena, what can I do? I…what can I do to help? I'll do anything" Stefan pleaded desperately._

_Elena looked thoughtful for a moment._

"_Can you make them forget?" Elena asked finally._

"_Elena…" Stefan started._

"_Stefan, Please. I don't know how they'll ever get past this. I just want them to forget what happened to Vicky" Elena cut in._

"_If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work…because of who I am. Because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right" Stefan said sadly._

"_I can do it" Damon voice said suddenly and Elena turned to face him as he came up the porch steps. "If this is what you want…I'll do it"_

"_It's what I want" Elena nodded determinately. _

"_What do you want them to know?" Damon asked._

"_Effy can know about vampires, since she's known before tonight, even about Vicky just that she had more control, but not that she died. I want you to tell them both that Vicky left town and she's not coming back. That they shouldn't worry or look for her. They're gonna miss her, but they know it's for the best"_

I stood in the middle of Jeremy room as he continued to sob on his bed, rocking himself back and forth. I had managed to control my sobs, but tears were still streaming down my cheeks and there was still a terrible pain in my chest from the grief.

The door opened and I whirled around to see Damon, and I was to grief stricken to even glare at him. He came closer and removed the vervain bracelet around my wrist and I looked at him fearfully through my tear filled eyes. He stared me straight in the eyes, his pupils dilating and I found myself getting sucked into his gaze.

"You will not remember what happened tonight, you had a good time with Jeremy, Elena and Stefan. Vicky had the vampire situation under control finally and decided she wanted to get away, and not come back. You won't look for her, or worry about her, she's fine. You're going to miss her, but you know it's for the best. You won't be suffering anymore, you'll be happy, you're finally over your grief." Damon said "and finally you will forget that I compelled you, now sleep"

My lid grew heavy and I had the faint feeling of my bracelet getting slipped back onto my wrist, before I was asleep.


End file.
